This is my dad's brother, Uncle Dexie. He served as a Master Sergeant in WWII in the Panama Canal.
We miss you Dexie !
This is my dad's brother, Uncle Jim Bob. He served in the Korean War and spent a lot of time in Germany. He is also pictured here with my beautiful Aunt Paula. We lost him many years ago. Aunt Paula lives in the great state of Texas.
One of my favorite memories of Jim was when he drove the get-away car on my wedding so that my new husband's friends wouldn't kidnap him and take him to Johns Valley in Pushmataha County. When we told him of the plans that they were going to kidnap Gary right after the reception, Jim said, and I quote him verbatim, "The hell they will."
The gentleman on the left is my father-in-law, better knows as Grandpa. He was a Master Sergeant in World War II with Company D, 111th, Medical Battalion, 36th Infantry Division. He was part of four beachhead landings in North Africa, Sicily, France, and Italy. We lost him many years ago.
There are so many wonderful memories of Grandpa. If I had to describe him, the best way I know how is this, "He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly." When Grandpa laughed, he laughed all over ! And, he laughed a lot.
The gentleman on the right is Grandpa's son, the father of my two beautiful daughters. He served in the Oklahoma Army Reserve for many years. My most vivid memories of those days are of Killeen, Texas, Ft. Polk, Louisiana, and ironing those blankety-blank green fatigues every Friday night before he reported to the reserve unit in Antlers for a weekend of drills.
My brother-in-law, Albert Brown, in the two photos above. The first one when he was 18 years old and the the second was taken at the Tastee Freez in Antlers, Oklahoma where he became legendary.
He was a Private First Class in the Army and Honorably Discharged in 1951. He served with The 338th Military Intelligence Service Company.
He is better known as "Uncle Albie." No one could have loved my girls any more than he did.
And this young man is our son-in-law. He has been deployed to Iraq FOUR times and then was stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.
He was there with our daughter and three children for three years.
Thank you to these special people in my life AND their families.
Thank you to ALL the veterans who served AND their families.
Thank you to ALL those who are still serving AND their families.
We all need to be thankful for them EVERY day.
Veterans Day is an official United States holiday honoring armed service veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11th. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.
Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day. Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.
