INI World Report > And...On the Bright Side > WOW! WHAT A GREAT STORY!
WOW! WHAT A GREAT STORY!
His father was an unsung hero:
What is something you wish you had known sooner?
My dad raised my sister and me after our mother passed away in an accident when I was 6 and she was 8. Dad never spoke very much unless you asked him a question. He did not date he just went to work and came home and took care of us. I know my dad loved us and he always smiled but getting him to talk was like pulling teeth.
In HS I was a linebacker at our little HS and dad never missed a game. My sister played the flute in school and he went to all her concerts. All the other kids had outgoing parents and my dad was 5:10 140 pounds of quiet average and I used to really envy the laughter and camraderie the other guys had with their dads and mine was just smiling and so silent.
On weekends he went fishing and took us with him if we wanted to go. We were always welcome and though I know he loved us he never had anything to say. Trying to talk to dad was just a lot of 1–2 word answers and then “glad we had this talk son.”
After college I moved away to Nashville about 4 hours from dad and then after a number of years he was in his 70s and got sick and passed away. At the funeral there were few people in attendance just some guys from his work, my sister and I and our families and an Army General in full uniform who formerly saluted my father and then sat in the back and said some prayers and got up to leave.
At the door I introduced myself and asked him if he knew my dad? He said that he had been a Captain in France and “. . . your dad was my specialty sergeant and he stopped a German advance in its tracks and destroyed 2 gun emplacements and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. We lost 8 men but 25 of us survived that day because your dad was the bravest SOB I ever saw or knew.”
Needless to say I was in shock. In a shoebox at home buried in a closet was the medal of honor and the duplicate they give you for ceremonies, the rosette, the citation signed by Truman in 1945, a silver star and the croix de guerre with palm from France.
God I wish I could have heard all this from Dad. Does he know how proud I am of him?
