“A family that serves together stays together”
~ military-family-quotes
I would like to share something that happened recently.
The mail person brought a package to our door, as it would not fit in the mail box. She was a young woman in her thirties who commented on the package being shipped from a military museum. I explained that we were exchanging information regarding WWII. I also told her that I recently published my father’s wartime letters written as a 101st Airborne paratrooper who fought in D-Day, Carentan, Holland and the Battle of the Bulge in the book, COMES A SOLDIER’S WHISPER.
When I asked her if she knew any veterans. She replied, “Yes, my father.” I then went on to ask which war, and she responded with, “I don’t know.” Although stunned, I quickly glossed over this, as I could see the heartfelt embarrassment on her part and did not want to add to it. I gave her the website to visit and asked that she tell her father, “Thank you for your service” from a proud Airborne veteran daughter. She nodded and said that would, but that her father has never spoken about his war experience. I encouraged her to have her father visit the website, which has interviews from a WWII veteran and several Vietnam veterans.
It doesn’t matter which war. War changes a soldier. It changes his family too. What is even more interesting, is that our brief encounter seemed to peak her interest and desire to know more. Perhaps this small interaction can help to open the door for this father and daughter to become closer in the process…
This incident is but a small example of the youth of today not knowing what their grandparents or fathers and mothers have done for their freedom and the life style they enjoy today. They want to know, if we can only find the courage to speak of it. It is imperative that the American history be preserved and passed down from generation to generation.
Pictured in this photo is David Markson who served in WWI with an inured hand in France. The adjacent images are of his son, Jim Markson who served in the Vietnam war. Both father and son went on to become Commander of a Veterans Organization, VFW Post 107, one of the oldest VFW’s in the United Sates, ironically started by World War One Veterans.
Dedicated to preserving the memory of our fallen soldiers, our veterans and educating future generations.
Jenny Tharp La Sala
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COMING SOON: Comes A Soldier’s Whisper VIETNAM and Beyond by Jenny La Sala and Jim Markson
