Tribute to a Soldier
Military Honors,My Father Buried in Jacksonville National Cemetery
I look back on my father and the many years he spent in the military, and I realize he was important in my life. He was the kinda of father that put his job values with great respect and honor. I see him as a tall 6'3" gentlemen. He was born in Grady County, Georgia. That was small rural community basically made up of farmers. I guess you wonder why, that I am writing this about my dad, but I feel it is his story and the story of other military families that need to be told across America. He is but a symbol of why our country is or should be a great nation. He was stationed all over this country and overseas in Germany, and in the Philippines during the Korean War. When he first started to serve his country, he was in the Army Air Corp. Then later on, when the Air Force was started, then my father joined the ranks of the Air Force.
During his career in the USAF, my father became a machinist in the service of his country. His job was that of keeping the planes in parts and making it work. He finally achieved the rank of Tsgt. He finally got the opportunity to run his own machine shop in the USAF. During the time he was stationed in the great state of North Dakota, he was made the head of the machine shop also and got his name as a soldier. I will never forget the name my father was called. He was called Sgt. Bull. I did not know that was because he was tough, and made his men and others tow the line to get the job done. I always thought to myself that title fits my dad perfectly. He was a parent to me that you looked up to and walked softly around. However, he was not the major discipline giver of my household. That was my mother who always looked up at him, but you knew not to mess with your little 5'2" mother. Dad's bark was worse than his bite as they say.
I can say that he did some notable things like have his name put on a plaque for his invention of parts for the airplanes that saved the government millions of dollars. He was honored for it. I might add my father was born a Taurus and maybe that has something to do with being the bull in the eyes of his men. He finally before leaving the service became a trainer and decided to retire his career after 20 years and falling off the nose of a B47 plane and injuring his back. If that had not happened my father probably would have still been doing his thing in the military.
As my father grew older and could no longer make it on his own home, then he was placed in a nursing home, and finally had a stroke after stroke hit my father, until he was blind, crippled and unable to communicate anymore. It was watching the man of your life dreams that you called "dad" become a father who you hardly recognized anymore. Then, this year his frail 87-year-old body finally gave up, and he died. I am thankful my father died not on a battlefield, but where his family could see him and love him until the end. My father was born in 1922 and died in 2011. He was buried in Jacksonville, Florida in a military National cemetery for soldiers. The government paid for my father's funeral. Moody Air Force base sent their team to Jacksonville to give him the honors that he finally deserved in death as a former career soldier. Thank you, Moody Field in Valdosta, Georgia for your caring soldiers that performed these honors. His family and friends will not forget what you did for him and for us. To the city of Jacksonville, Florida..........thank you for your being there and for your providing a National Cemetery for your soldiers.
Why do you ask me do I want to recognize my father on the hub pages? I will tell you why, because it is important to recognize this man and all the men who served their country. My father was but one soldier in a vast sea of soldiers, and one of a nation of courageous soldiers, who were so dedicated to protecting this country that they were willing to sacrifice their lives to defend America. I have friends who died on the battlefield of Viet Nam and were blown up by minds, and they never lived to be 19 years old. My father lived to be 87 and could easily have been a victim of the war. I remember my neighbor saying that he went to Viet Nam and the people treated him like dirt and did not welcome their soldier back from the war, when he came back to the USA. How can this country ever look at a soldier and not realize the things they sacrifice for their country? Their families and their children come second to the defence of a country. But in their hearts, they are first, and that is why they go out and protect the land they love and all the families across our nation. These soldiers commit to honoring their country, and we need as Americans to honor their service to our country. My father in my mind is a symbol of the honor a soldier feels inside for their country. I am sure that many of you could fill a page like this with your own stories of war and family. Thank a soldier today, tomorrow, and all the tomorrows to come! They give their lives so that we might know freedom.
Recently our country closed it's doors down for several weeks, and our soldiers dying in action were denied their military right of a paid funeral. This left their families with the financial burden of the funeral. They went over to a country and did their job, and it is as if they died in vain. I ask our government officials to remember these soldiers and the dedication they had for us. They do it, and they are leaving their families behind to serve their country. They serve the word freedom and protect their own families as well as those of others, Our nation would be in dire need without them. How many of you in Congress would stand on that battleground for them?