Are any of your family members or friends or their parent’s military veterans? If you are reading this post in another country, honor those who served in the military in your country. That honoring spirit continues with me even to this day. We need to pass this along to our children. In this patriotic season, use everything you can to teach your children about this.
My Dad lived with me in the last time of his life. Until his last day of life, he wore hats that represented the U.S. Navy, the ship he was on, or that he was a WWII Veteran. Look around in the coming months and look for hats or t-shirts of those who served in the military and thank them for their service.
I spend a great deal of time in Branson, Missouri. I love the patriotism in this town. At the shows, they ask the military veterans to stand when the song for their branch of the service is played. People are always thanking the veterans for their service to this country. Shops have many patriotic items for sale. Branson is a patriotic town. This is how every town in America should be. If people spent more time on honoring our veterans than fighting with each other, there would be more safety in this country. We have a trend of turning away from honor.
After my Dad passed away, I realized that I would not hear any more of his war stories firsthand anymore. It made me sad that I have not recorded more of them. But I decided to use the framework for the stories I had and seek out more stories from other veterans of the Greatest Generation. The Greatest Generation is the generation that lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s and WWII in the 1940s. Many of them served in the military. Others worked in the factories on the home front making the wartime supplies, raising their families so their husbands could serve in the military or supported them in other ways.
“What The Greatest Generation Knew – That We Don’t”
I determined that I would give this generation a voice, one more time. I am in process of writing a book called “What The Greatest Generation Knew – That We Don’t.” This book focuses on the character that these men and women had as they willingly fought to preserve world freedom. They knew that they may give their lives for this mission, but they went to the frontlines of battle anyway. The first and last chapters are already written and discuss their character, such as: courage, perseverance, patriotism, honor and respect. The major portion of the book is their stories. And I have room for many more.
I am looking to still interview WWII Veterans or their families, as there are not too many of them still alive. These are the questions they can consider if they want to provide their stories to society;
• What you remember about growing up as a child during the Great Depression.
• How you decided to fight for world freedom in WWII.
• What you did during WWII or what experiences you had.
• The most important thing you learned from serving in WWII.
• What words of wisdom would you like to leave as a legacy.
If any WWII veterans or their families have a story they would like to tell, please contact me. This is one more opportunity to leave their legacy to a world that needs to hear it. My email address is:
chris@drchris.co (not .com).
Honor Flight
This is one of the ways I am honoring military veterans. Please seek out ways you can too. If you can participate in an “Honor Flight” in which military wartime veterans are brought to Washington DC for a day to go to the patriotic sites there. They are seeking escorts for the veterans. Their mission and vision are:
Our mission is one of gratitude. For their service, sacrifice and selflessness. Join us as we proudly celebrate America’s veterans with a day of honor in our nation’s capital.
Our vision – a Nation where all of our veterans experience the honor, gratitude and community of support they deserve.
Please check out their website at: honorflight.org.
We need to honor all veterans, no matter when they served and if they were in a war or not. Respect them and thank them. Let me leave you with this quote.
“The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude” (Jeff Miller, Former US Representative, Florida).
Looking forward to sharing more with you next week,
Dr. Christine Van Horn
www.drchris.co
chris@drchris.co