Real heros sometimes are right around you.....and you never knew it.

[mjp28]

Real heros sometimes are right around you.....and you never knew it.

My late uncle and godfather I knew that he was in the European tank outfit and he was in the middle of a lot of big nasty battles and came home with some really nice German War souvenirs from his time in a  tank.  Until today I didn't know all of the details like he was in the famous 750th tank battalion. 

He was always a rough kind of no nonsense guy but some returning WWII guys were just that way they just wanted to get the war behind them and move on.  I was born in 1950 my one brother born in 1960 has found out a whole lot of information on Uncle Nick in WWII than I ever knew. 

He was in DDAY, the battle of the bulge and Remagen and came home with 3 bronze stars and some amazing hardware like German daggers, flags of all sizes and  more. Some flags and other memorabilia he donated to museums. I do remember his three colored patches and other things I saw as a kid when he lived in Parma before moving to California.  He later moved to and retired near Tampa Florida. 

I also knew another very nice older guy, an officer in the SNPJ lodge that I belonged to he helped me being the picnic chairman (a big deal) for years.  I found out that he actually was on the ground in the battle of the bulge......when I read it in his obituary,  I never knew it.

My dad was in some nasty stuff in the NAVY in the Mediterranean in a mine sweeper in WWII that earned his bronze star before he was transferred to the WESPAC and later called up to Korea.   My four younger brothers knew more about all of this than I did until now.

Do you have any heros right around you ?  Some of the best ones never talk much about it. 

[TexasAg1969]

Yesterday I attended the military honors burial ceremony of the 100th unaccompanied veteran at the Texas State Cemetery in Killeen. There were maybe 150 other veterans there to make sure he was not really unaccompanied. I also got to visit the grave and take a picture of the tombstone of a very dear friend of more than 4 decades who died last fall and is buried nearby.

https://www.glo.texas.gov/the-glo/news/press-releases/2022/february/100th-unaccompanied-veteran-laid-to-rest-at-central-texas-state-veterans-cemetery.html

This program for veterans with no known next of kin is well worth the time to attend. Very moving indeed to see so many combat veterans who care about "lost" fellow veterans.