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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNot quite a political post
Today would have been my dad's 90th birthday. He died right before Christmas 1964 at 38 years of age when I was 6.
My dad was born in NYC in a neighborhood in which he had to walk about 20 blocks to school. In those 20 blocks he heard and learned 3 different languages. By the time he was 25 years old he was fluent in five languages.
At 17 years old he signed up along with millions of others to enlist in the US Army and was sent to Europe to fight for liberation of our allied populations. After the war he posed as a clerk in a East German hotel and passed along information to the US Government about what was going on there.
When the Korean War started he was sent there and then back to Germany after the Korean War at which time he met my mother.
When things were just being heated up in the Eisenhower administration, on December 28 1960 he was sent to a little known place called Vietnam because of his skill both in Languages and in deciphering code. On January 17, 1961 he was shot by a sniper and came stateside to live with his family (my mom and I) one night right before Christmas of 1964, after having suffered a stroke previously, he had a massive heart attack and killed him.
What my mom had told me of him (I barely remember him) he had insisted that Franklin Roosevelt was the greatest president we have ever had due to his creating jobs and other liberal policies. He said FDR would have been a near perfect president had it not been for imprisoning the Japanese.
My dad was great defender of civil rights (even getting arrested for letting a woman of color sit in the front seat of a car with him) he despised those that were quick to saber rattle or plunge into war.
What is going on now to me, totally desecrates what he fought for, what he believed in and devalues what my father and millions of others have been led to believe to be the sacred principles of our democratic society.
As a birthday present to my father, I thank others who have stood up to the tyranny and bullying of the past and of the present. I pray that we soon restore some common sense and even more so some common empathy into our civic affairs and become the nation that my father fought for!
Sorry this is so long!!!
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)And thank you for it.
gopiscrap
(23,758 posts)skylucy
(3,739 posts)gopiscrap
(23,758 posts)lpbk2713
(42,757 posts)I'm sorry we lost your Dad too soon.
ProfessorGAC
(65,010 posts)He at least made it to 69, and i was 45.
Great post, Ipbk
gopiscrap
(23,758 posts)it's too soon when anybody's parent dies
monmouth4
(9,694 posts)Bucky
(53,998 posts)It's important ot share our stories as much as we share our opinions. Your dad's story reminds us how important liberal government is, when it looks out for all our well-being, when it ensures that we have a lively, responsible economy that rewards hard work and commitment to community. It sounds like we, as a country, lost so much when you lost your father. Thank you for telling us his story.
gopiscrap
(23,758 posts)KT2000
(20,577 posts)and it reminds me of the honorable people who used to dominate our world. I often think of my father and how he would be absolutely heartbroken today. I recall one time when he was disgusted with Boeing for having donated to both R's and D's in an election year. He saw them hedging their bests as lack of character. Honesty, integrity, ethics have been pushed aside.
BTW - not too long at all.