Thank a Veteran Day

I finally got up the courage to visit the Black Hills National Cemetery, a few miles south of Sturgis off of I-90, the other day. I drove through slowly, reading names on headstones close to the road. There are veterans laid to rest there from WWI, WWII, and Vietnam, from every branch of the military. I didn't see them, but I know there are soldiers laid to rest from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Family members can also be laid to rest w/ their beloved Veteran at a Nat'l cemetery. I saw the headstone for a six year old child, and for many wives of the fallen.  There are over 19,000 interments at the cemetery, which is on 106 acres of gentle rolling hills, with the Black Hills as a backdrop. As you can see from the photo, all of the markers are the same, simple and white.

My favorite Veteran is still alive and doing well at 86 years old. He was 18 when he was drafted into the Army to serve in WWII, and he was a gunnar and a paratrooper. If the bomb had not been dropped on Hiroshima, his unit of paratroopers would have had to of been air-dropped there, in what would've been a suicide mission more-or-less. Which means I probably wouldn't exist if that had been the case.

I'll never know or understand the extent of his emotional scars, what he went through. But I am so very proud of him...Mr. DGG, my hero, my touching stone, and most important of all, my beloved father.

It isn't nearly enough, but thank you Dad!