Are you gladly serving?

Sitting atop of a bookcase in my home is a glass encased flag which was presented to my grandmother when my grandfather died in 1978. He was a Veteran, having served in the Navy during World War II. Inside the bookcase is a memento much more precious to me. It’s a book of thoughts and verses my grandfather wrote and published, tattered from its handling. The writings span the course of 30 years although the majority of his entries were written during the war between 1942 and 1945 where he served on the USS Bushnell in the Marshall Islands. There is one sweet little ditty about his daughter, my aunt, that I have always loved.  

To Judy Anne, 13 August, 1943

“Little girl, I’m glad to know you.

Why, I’m sure you are just so

Perhaps before I see you

You’ll have some time to grow.

I know we aren’t acquainted

But am sure a love will form

T’ween a dad who’se never seen you

And a little girl just born.”

As a young girl reading it, I recall asking my mother “Why hadn’t he seen her?” Oblivious to the history or my grandfather’s circumstances, my mother did her best to explain. It was lost on me. I happily ran off to play, disinterested. Now that I’m older, versed in US history, and a parent myself, I appreciate what it represents. It’s not simply a sweet note to his baby girl. It’s about a young mother with two daughters, welcoming a third without her husband who was thousands of miles away. It’s about a country boy from West Virginia who became a top surgeon, living the American dream in the Big Apple, but risked it all to volunteer for his country. 

While wistful, the poem is hopeful. There is no hint of regret, resentment, or fear. How could that be? When you read the poem that precedes it, dated a little more than a month before, you understand. 

I GLADLY SERVE, 3 JULY 1943

“A message came for me today

Which long I have awaited;

It is the answer to a question;

A question I’ve never stated.

A crayon colored print

Shaded by hands

so dear to me

my unhindered children

happy, safe at home and free

Free to play. Free to roam;

This print is of my home.

Colored by my children,

posted by my wife;

Flown by my country

Seven thousand miles to sea life. 

Family, home and country.

It touches every nerve.

Love, happiness, freedom.

For these, I gladly serve.”

It would be three years before my grandfather would meet his youngest daughter. He would receive pictures of her from my grandmother noting her lovely eyes and beautiful hair, but he missed three years of bedtime stories, first words, and sweet giggles. These experiences were replaced by others that I can only imagine were stark and somber.

He would return home from the war taking his experience to Bellevue Hospital in New York becoming Chief of Surgery and eventually retiring to his hometown in West Virginia where a surgeon was desperately needed. Unfortunately he passed away when I was six years old. My memories of him are vague, but I know that he was a hero, an individual who proudly wore the cloth of his nation to ensure that we live in a country where little hands happily make crayon colored prints. “Unhindered. Free to play. Free to roam.” I am proud to be his descendent, to know a part of him lives on in me.

On Veteran’s Day we commemorate those who have served. We thank them for all the things they missed and didn’t see and for some, all the things they did and wish they hadn’t. This one day we recognize their commitment and the sacrifice it entails. As I reflect on my grandfather’s character, his patriotism, his commitment to helping others, I feel compelled to honor him and those like him by doing the same. During this month I challenge you to celebrate the family, home, and country the military have long protected. Whether it be a small act of service or a big one, show your gratitude and “gladly serve." 

#Leadersservehere

@teahan_julie