You betrayed us:

[slightlv]

19. My dad was about the same age as yours when he enlisted.

He'd lost his family (including a twin brother) in a house fire when they were both very young. He was passed around from one family to another until he went out on his own... then joined the Army as soon as he could. He was a Great Depression victim, in my mind. I know he was stationed in Italy and North Africa... the places he had pictures and stories he'd tell me. And he learned how to speak Italian pretty well. In fact, when Mom and Dad would fight, he'd often lapse into Italian, and it totally infuriated my mother. I remember her yelling one night, if you're gonna cuss me out do in English so I can understand what you're saying! (LOL)

There were other places he'd been to...pictures he'd taken and postcards he'd collected, but he wouldn't talk about those. Not where they were taken, nor what he'd done there.

He was a medic, and saw way too much to be able to talk about most of it, to my mind. But when I enlisted in the Air Force and took the oath of service, you should have seen him beam! He was so proud someone in the family had followed his footsteps for this country.

He died nearly 20+ years ago, and I still miss him to this day. Badly. In fact, I just lost my Mom this past Jan. Sis and I are going to the National Cemetery to see the new headstone, now that they're buried next to each other.

As badly as I miss him, I still SO glad to he's not here to see how this country has honored his and brothers in arms sacrifices. As a veteran, I'm so ashamed of my country. And angry.