My father enlisted in the Navy in 1943. He participated in the Campaign for the Liberation of the Philippines in 1944. His ship was at the second engagement in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. One of the hallmarks of this particular military campaign was the Japanese introduction of kamikaze pilots. Kamikaze is a Japanese word meaning "divine wind" and these suicide pilots sank 17 U.S. ships and damaged 50 more in the battle for Luzon in the Philippines as they flew obsolete planes into American ships, hoping to do considerable damage to the U.S. fleet.
As a machinist, Dad worked below in the ship. He remembered hearing a kamikaze plane hit the ship next to his, which sunk as a result of the attack. He said it was extremely loud and the ship he was on shook so much that he thought it was his ship that had been hit. When he realized it was another ship that was hit, he ran up 3 flights of stairs to see what was happening. Men from the damaged ship were jumping into the water to escape the fire on board. My father volunteered to help rescue them and spent the rest of the day pulling men both living and dead out of the Pacific. One rescued man was burned over 90 percent of his body. Although he did not know the man, Dad volunteered to stay by the man’s side. For three full days and nights he stayed with the stranger, changing his bandages and simply not leaving the man alone with horrible pain. The man died, but not alone.
Fuck you, Donald Trump.
Do you have a story to tell about a brave U.S. military man or woman from your own life? Does it hurt your heart to know our president thinks they were suckers and losers for serving their country? I'd love to read about it. Democrats need to reclaim the moral imperative in the U.S. We have been misunderstood for too long.
Thank You for explaining, so vividly, what so many of our Military and Veterans go thru during their Service to Country. It is obscene that we have a President with so little respect, so little understanding, of the Heroism, the Sacrifices, the Service to Country and Selflessness it takes. He has none of that, being a Draft Dodging Cowardly Rich Kid who has only ever been self-serving, selfish, arrogant and crass. I hope they bury his Ass in November, both figuratively and literally.
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteNothing to add except a heartfelt thanks. For this post, and the ones preceding it. I really do believe Trump is evil incarnate.
ReplyDeleteWOW, what a story, a terrible story, but your Dad, was the man! WOW. But , you know, the orange thing did say that nobody has ever been a better friend to the military than he...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda.
DeleteWhat a caring man your Dad was! That is a wonderful story and I enjoy hearing about your family of heroes! What an inspiration these men of your family are! Those are the people we need to hear about - I am sick of hearing stories about self-centered cheats and loud-mouthed bullies!
ReplyDeleteI agree.
DeleteMy father joined the Army at age 17, in 1924. He was in an orphanage, threatened with the "detention home", as an unruly teenager. In the army he rose to Master Sergeant, and was a radio man He packed his gear on mules. He was medically discharged with chronic ulcers in the early thirties. He took his mustering out pay and spent two years in college, taking as many courses as he could buy on his savings. When the money ran out, he became a radio operator on the great lakes, for several years, until he was thrown overboard in a violent storm. His shipmates got him aboard, and dropped him in Cleveland, to find medical help. Eventually he met and married my mother. He took a job at Goodyear Aircraft, the war started, and he was locked into the essential job of dirigible, or blimp, building. These aircraft escorted valuable ships across the Atlantic. Troupe ships,supply ships. Blimps could spot enemy submarines and warn ships. My father was responsible for the electrical systems of the blimps, and the engineers and draftsmen who designed and produced them. When my father retired, at his retirement party someone stood up and read a letter my father wrote to the president of Goodyear, demanding to be released from his job so he could "join this man's army" and be in the front line of the war. In red, in the margin, the president wrote "Who is this guy Lytle?" He continued to be an electrical engineer, and at the end of his career worked on the electrical systems for our first spacecraft.
ReplyDeleteJoanne! I love this so much. Many, many thanks for sharing.
DeleteMy grandfather wasn't in the military, but he was a civilian employee of the Navy for virtually his entire working life. (A scientist at the Naval Research Lab.) You're right about Democrats -- for too long we have allowed the right to define us.
ReplyDeleteService is service. I count being a scientist at a Naval Research Lab as service. Cheers.
DeleteYour father was such a hero. He had compassion for the poor sailor who was so badly burned.
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