tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post6291269537378263566..comments2024-01-26T01:43:08.150-07:00Comments on Ancestral Breezes: We Are Not a Military FamilyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10088409491178996382noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-88191309856445819372012-06-04T20:48:00.626-06:002012-06-04T20:48:00.626-06:00Hi Jen, sorry to only get back to this now... Life...Hi Jen, sorry to only get back to this now... Life has intervened.<br /><br />I never felt pressured to enlist because I was our family's only son. That said, I don't know that I felt I had many other options--I was not immediately college-bound, and I was given the same talk by "guidance" counselors that Dad got from the same high school in about 1957-58ish: you're grades are so poor no college will take you. You may a) get a job on a local dairy, b) look for work in a local timber company, or c) join the military. <br />Thus I felt c) was my only real option. Some time later, after seeing I was not a good fit in my reserve unit, I grew quite resentful for a time, that at no point in this period was community college mentioned as a viable option. But I found my way.<br /><br />All of this to underscore how secondary any thought to "duty" or "patriotism" was in this process.--CharlieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-41949714599267355202012-05-28T08:22:34.762-06:002012-05-28T08:22:34.762-06:00Huh. My Dad served on Guam, too. Do you know what ...Huh. My Dad served on Guam, too. Do you know what years your uncle was there? <br />Attic's are fantastic sources - get in there! :-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088409491178996382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-75615184505210930532012-05-27T21:51:19.037-06:002012-05-27T21:51:19.037-06:00My grandma had his, but she would never let anyone...My grandma had his, but she would never let anyone go look around the attic for them. She just got moved to a home a couple months ago and I keep meaning to ask my dad if anyone had looked for them. She'd always wanted him to have them anyway as he's her only surviving son (my Uncle died about twenty years ago). Heck I just learned that same Uncle was in the military a couple years ago too, apparently he was about to be drafted during Vietnam, so he enlisted instead and spent his time on Guam.M.Brayfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04024253873519266686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-18577914790776399432012-05-27T19:23:00.639-06:002012-05-27T19:23:00.639-06:00Merinda, isn't it odd how "little" d...Merinda, isn't it odd how "little" details in a family get overlooked? Of course, to your grandfather, that would have been life changing, so its curious that the stories were never told, at least not enough for you to remember. Try Ebay for the cruise books; I have a couple of my Dad's, and their wonderful. I've seen random ones on there.<br />Thanks for commenting! ~JenAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088409491178996382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-16113603757796693222012-05-27T19:20:59.992-06:002012-05-27T19:20:59.992-06:00Hi Stephen,
The WWI subs were certainly a scary v...Hi Stephen, <br />The WWI subs were certainly a scary venture, I think! Thanks for sharing the link. I did read your post, enjoyed it, shared it, and added to my RSS, so thanks for that, too! Hopefully we can continue to compare notes. Thanks for reading, and thanks for commenting! ~ JenAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088409491178996382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-73284218451104012332012-05-27T18:06:36.161-06:002012-05-27T18:06:36.161-06:00I knew my father hadn't served, but I didn'...I knew my father hadn't served, but I didn't know my grandfather was in the Navy until I joined myself. Or maybe I'd been told but it never processed. He died when I was seen, so I hardly remember him. My dad was surprised by my unawareness, but I think it had just never occured to him that he'd never shared any of his father's stories. He served on the Louisville as a Machinist Mate during WW II and I think was called back up for Korea. I stil want to get my hands on cruise books.<br /><br />And of course, you know about Elmo Banning, who was someone else I didn't know about until much later. Goes to show you should talk to your kids!M.Brayfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04024253873519266686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-86209248471389354952012-05-27T15:03:26.445-06:002012-05-27T15:03:26.445-06:00Great post Jen!
I hadn't known until now that...Great post Jen!<br /><br />I hadn't known until now that the US Navy had ANY submarines in World War I, but your post encouraged me to check this out. See http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_22/ww1.htm<br /><br />Also, you might be interested in this post of mine re military ancestors: http://stephenrettie.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/brothers-in-arms-earned-in-blood/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-42732402964856302422012-05-27T06:58:07.406-06:002012-05-27T06:58:07.406-06:00Hey Big Brother; thanks so much for the details. C...Hey Big Brother; thanks so much for the details. Certainly adds more depth to my post! :-) I know I have discussed the lack of emotion about our military past with the sisters, but I'm not sure that I ever really knew how you felt, or if you were "given" a more significant sense of responsibility towards the military, since you were the only boy. I've always meant to discuss it with you, but that period conjures up negative emotion for me, so I've avoided it. Thank you for sharing your history with me here. <br />Talk soon ~ JenAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088409491178996382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1362503919392294415.post-41560288406317134062012-05-27T06:31:55.718-06:002012-05-27T06:31:55.718-06:00What a great summary, Sister!
A few details, if y...What a great summary, Sister!<br /><br />A few details, if you do not have them: I enlisted in the Army Reserve the summer before my senior year of high school, and attended reserve drills from July 1989 onwards. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait occurred in the middle of by basic training, and the massive mobilization and deployment known as Operation Desert Shield changed the pace of that training, and my subsequent medical skill training.<br /><br />Upon my release back to real life, on 15 January 1991--the deadline for Saddam to remove his occupation of Kuwait--I was told that all in my job title from my unit were in process of deployment to Saudi Arabia. I, too, would go as soon as my records caught up with me in those pre-email, pre-Internet days. Thus, we kept my dufflebag of uniforms and other equipment issued to me by the front door of the house, just waiting for the call to report for duty to Fort Lewis.<br /><br />That call never came, mainly because the war ended before my records were received at my unit. They arrived a week or so after Desert Storm ended. The whole experience--my first real experience as a post-high school adult--is the most formative set of events of my life: I learned to put life in perspective, and it planted a seed of a lifelong interest in the Middle East region, and gave me a good dose of seeing "how the other half lives" in terms of who serves in the military and the hardships these face.<br /><br />Anyhow, as all this was going on, I don't think I was aware of any family military tradition outside of Dad and Uncle Bob (the Army Air Force aviator). I never felt any obligation to serve for any tradition-related reasons, and to be blunt, my decision to sign up at that time in my life was much more about finding ways to make ends meet, than any sense of patriotism. I didn't have the luxury of such feelings back then, and I know a lot of folks who were serving with me were in the same boat.--CharlieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com