Veterans Day Letter

[VAdame]

Hi All --

In honor of Veterans Day, I'm sharing a letter my Dad (SSgt Mike McGinnis) wrote to his family during WWII. Hope you enjoy it

Nov 11, 1944
France

Dear Folks,

Well, twenty-six years ago today the Germans gave up the last war.
Wonder when they will quit this time.

This morning most of the group took off and we flew low in formation
over a graveyard of American dead of the Last War. Then the lead ships dropped wreaths of flowers on the cemetery.

I was just thinking that last year at this time, I was home and Dad and
I went to the big high school game. We had a lot of fun that day.

Uncle Jim and I went to the big dinner the Vets had and what a swell
feed it was.

I sure want to get back to enjoy some more holidays like that one.
Guess I was pretty lucky to get my furlough just then.

Another fellow and I bought a chess set and we are relaxing now by
playing chess. He's teaching me the rules and we have a lot of fun at it.

Haven't got any mail from you for about ten days. Just got a letter
from Art & Susie. The first mail I've had in all that time. Hope I get more
tomorrow.

That's all,
Love,
Mike

[Flybrick]

Thank you for posting this.


v/r,
Brick

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

Thanks from here too.




Here's a Poppy for Veterans Day, Mrs. Wallace used to give them out at our Post Office and take donations. She's gone now and I haven't seen a poppy in a few years.

[peacock2121]

Thank you.

God Bless are the veterans.

[VAdame]

Glad yinz liked it!

A little background: Dad had just turned 22 years old. He was a radio operator in the Army Air Corps, and had been one of the boys who flew over the Channel for the "big show" in June '44 (D-Day!)

In the year since the previous Armistice Day when he & Grandpa (a WWI vet) went to the game & my Great-Uncle Jim (also WWI) shared dinner, Mike's only brother (my Uncle Jimmy, or 2nd Lt. James McGinnis), a navigator, was shot down & killed in action. And Grandpa had had major heart surgery -- a very big deal in 1944 entailing weeks in the hospital and many months of recovery at home in bed! Grandma wasn't able to tell him about Jimmy's death for several weeks, because he wasn't strong enough to bear the news

Of course, Dad came home in good health, but Grandpa (Bill) never really recovered from losing his firstborn. He died in 1948, and I never knew him. Great-Uncle Jim (Grandma's brother) lived to a ripe old age & acted as sort of a surrogate Grandpa to us kids.

An excerpt from an earlier letter, in which Dad asks if he can wear Grandpa's sergeant's stripes:

If there are two sets of stripes of Dad’s (one for each arm) I wish you would send them. I’d be proud to wear them through this war. I hope both sets are there.

[note: Mike recently was promoted to sergeant]

But I think I only cut off one pair. If I remember correctly, there was only one set on the one sleeve. I hope I’m wrong, though.

If you do find two, I’ll have them sewed on my blouse. Wouldn’t they be something to keep then. Service in two wars in two generations.

But two wars are enough, don’t you think. I hope it’s the last time they will ever be used.


When we were growing up, Dad talked about his military days in terms of the travel & places he'd gone -- never about the the actual combat. But quite a few of his letters express the hope that there won't need to be any more wars. Didn't quite work out that way.

Here's a Poppy for Veterans Day, Mrs. Wallace used to give them out at our Post Office and take donations. She's gone now and I haven't seen a poppy in a few years.

I have several "Buddy-Poppies" hanging from my rear-view mirror!

[Flybrick]

Very touching about the passing down of the rank insignia.


I asked my dad, before he died, if I could have/wear his major's rank and although he never lived to see me wear it, it made him proud I think. I almost hated to take it off for the next rung on the ladder.

[VAdame]

And another generation carries on the military tradition:

Our great-niece, Rochelle, just returned from Army basic training at Ft. Jackson, SC. She was one of the graduates whom George W. Bush addressed last week, in case anyone saw the story.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases ... 102-7.html

She said the thing she noticed seeing him in person was, he looks much, much older than on TV! (In fact, she said he looks like a dried-up little old man )

[traininvain]

But two wars are enough, don’t you think. I hope it’s the last time they will ever be used.

Beautiful words.

Thank you for sharing, and thank you to your dad and all the veterans in all the wars for all of us.

[Ritterskoop]

I got to wear my Pat Tillman jersey to the game today. Its red color is a little too close to Falcons red, but no one said anything once they saw the name.

There was the always-moving halftime ceremony, but this year were extras. They had 2 Medal of Honor winners, one representing the Army (WWII) and one the Marines/Navy (Vietnam), and there is also a third design for the Air Force Medal of Honor, so they had two Tuskegee Airmen (not Medal winners but still way cool in their red jackets).

[Timsterino]

Thank you for posting this.

G*d bless our veterans who have and are currently serving to protect and defend this great country of ours.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Thank you for sharing.

[lilyvonschtupp26]

Thank you for posting this. I miss my Dad and especially on Veterans Day.

I had a very moving day on Friday at work. We had a Veterans Day program presented by the 8th graders for the veterans. We invited the Vets for the local post to visit and the band played their branch's service song, the choir sang for them and some of the kids read their composition wrote in honor of the day. One student wrote a letter to his grandfather thanking him for his service in the Battle of the Bulge. Another wrote a great piece about freedom, peace and our country's history. A third wrote a letter to the guys serving now.

Needless to say, since I'm such a softie and I cry at commercials, I was a mess. Luckily, the camera had a stabilizer on it to help get photos in focus.

[VAdame]

I miss my dad too -- he passed away in 1978, much too young.

I think I have a pic of Dad, Grandpa Bill, & Uncle Jimmy somewhere in my files (probably the last time they were all together!) but at the moment I can't find it! If it turns up, I'll post it here.