30 Days of Thanks – 11

On this Veteran’s Day I am supremely grateful for all the service men and women through the years who have put their lives in harms way so that we might be the great country that we are. We live in a military town – there is a very large Strategic Air Force Base here. Every day we see B-52 bombers circling the skies. If you go out to lunch, you are likely to see groups of men and women from the base in the restaurant. It’s a marvelous, patriotic feeling to be surrounded by amazing men and women like that.

I talked to my Dad this morning for a long time about his service in WWII. He was fresh out of college and just thought it was a job to do, then you come home and get on with your life. (That’s so like him!) He was a pilot in the Army Air Corps and flew cargo planes in Burma, China, India and Egypt. His squadron was the very first one to develop the means of parachuting supplies to the troops. He flew “The Hump” many times, wearing an oxygen mask and coaxing his plane over the very high mountain peaks, all in his duty to ensure the soldiers had the ammunition, gasoline, and supplies they needed each day.
I am so proud of my Dad. And so grateful.