A Man Of Honor

I had those words engraved on Daddy's tombstone at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, where he and Mom have their ashes interred. He earned his spot there after serving in WWII. He was raised to be honorable, and lived his life that way. No big splashes, no celebrity, just steady, enduring, unflagging, quiet honor.

He's not the only soldier in the family. My brother Steve served in Viet Nam. My son Paul served in the national guard. One of our ancestors came over from France to fight in our revolutionary war. The earliest ancestor the family can trace stood and fought with William Wallace.

President* Bone Spurs would call them all "suckers." He frequently denigrated John McCain for getting shot down, denying his heroism, not realizing his true heroism was in refusing to leave his POW prison until all his men were released also, despite his being tortured, when he was offered a chance to leave without them. When President* Bone Spurs stood with John Kelly at Kelly's son's military grave, he dishonored  the soldier's sacrifice. He literally cannot understand the concept, or any human interaction which is not transactional. He's all about what's in it for himself. Always.

One thing Trump is not, in any way whatsoever, is a man of HONOR.

My father was the quiet parent. For many, many years, in my ignorance, I thought Mom was the parent, he was just there. What he gave us wasn't preached, just shown by example, and learned as others talked of him. He made an even bigger sacrifice than serving in war, at least in society's eyes. In 1934 his father died from an infection before antibiotics were available. There were younger siblings and a widow still needing support, so my father left college in order to go to work to help support them. Without that degree, it took him until 1941 to be able to make an adequate income to be able to marry my mother, and even then it took her father's assistance to get him a factory job to bring his earnings high enough. His siblings were businessmen, educators, people in positions of status and generous income, while we grew up the poor branch of the family. Through the years Daddy had such careers as running a resort and being a real estate agent. Mom worked as well, in secretarial positions that would now be labeled "Executive Assistant."  No glamour, no fancy status, no riches, but we always had what we really needed.

Perhaps the only decent thing President* Bone Spurs has done in his life is given me a truer appreciation of my father. He did what was needed, did it without complaint, and did it for us, with love.