A Special Veteran
Every Veteran’s Day should be a special one. The men and women who have served and are serving in the United States Armed Forces deserve much more recognition than one day could possibly devote to them. It is truly the least we can do. My first item of business this morning was to make a blanket thank you to our uniformed freedom fighters, but I am ashamed that it did not include an individual thanks to a special veteran whom holds high esteem in my heart.
My brother Brad enlisted himself into the Navy back in 1972 right after graduating high school. I was six years old and didn’t understand what exactly that meant at the time, only that it meant that my oldest brother and hero was going away and would not be home for a long time.
Sadly, I cannot tell his whole story because my selfishness and self absorption have never prompted me to learn it, but I do recall bits and pieces of it. After his basic training, he was assigned to an aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk I believe, and immediately was out to sea. He may have been on other ships, but the Kitty Hawk was always the one that stuck in my head.
To the best of my knowledge, Brad loaded bombs on to the carrier aircraft. I remember him bringing home movies of the jets taking off and landing on the carrier – it was totally cool and did nothing to diminish his hero standing with me. Unfortunately, the home leave visits were few and far between, so we did not get to see him very often, as one might expect with a seaman.
His travels took him all over the world on the carrier, but at some point he ended up in port in San Diego, CA, where he met his bride Stasy. Our family made the trek from Detroit, MI, to San Diego to see his wedding in 1976. 10 people in a 12 seat van all the way – glad my twin brother and I were small enough to fit between the seats. Wow.
Shortly after getting married, Brad went into recruiting and moved to Mount Pleasant, PA, a small mountain town not too far from Pittsburgh. We made at least one trip, maybe two, to PA to see him and his growing family, with the birth of his second daughter, Rachel, coming while in Mount Pleasant. Becky, his oldest, was born in CA while in San Diego, as well as Jessica a couple of years after Rachel.
It wasn’t long before they up and moved back to CA, where he was moving into his next endeavor which turned out to be air traffic controlling. Part of his training for ATC brought him to Memphis, TN, in the mid 1980’s, which was great because Mom, Dad, Jerry, and I had since moved to TN and could take advantage of the proximity of his 2 month training in 1983. He even got to help coach our senior Babe Ruth team which was a total joy.
After a couple of years, Brad and family moved to Memphis permanently, assuming an ATC role at the Millington Naval Base just north of the city. After 20 plus years in Navy, Brad decided to retire to civilian life sometime in the early 1990’s. Even though attending his ceremony with my parents, I do not recall the year specifically.
Even with his retirement, Brad was not through with service. He immediately became an EMT and worked on the ambulance service in Memphis until he could become a full fledge firefighter, which he is still doing at the present time.
Sometimes, being family allows for faults to be overlooked, but the fact that I have never publically voiced my gratitude to my brother for proudly serving his country as part of the armed forces and as a firefighter is something I am totally ashamed of. For this brother, I am truly sorry.
Brad, I am truly proud of your service to this great country. Your sacrifice, as well as your wife and daughter’s, are truly appreciated and you deserve much praise for it. More than anything, I am proud to call you my brother and I love very, very much. God Bless you and your family!
