VETERAN'S DAY

The other two men in my family saw combat, an experience  I am just as happy to have missed. My Mom was too, having had a husband and first-born who served and made it back home alive. 

My father, Victor, was with the Marine Corps at Guadalcanal during World War 2. He was pulled from combat because he contracted mosquito-borne tropical diseases-malaria and lymphatic filariasis that stayed with him until he died. These mosquitos saved his life considering the bloody battles to come: Tarawa, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. I would not be here either.

 

 

 

 

 

My brother, Michael, was with Air Force Special Forces in Vietnam. While on missions deep in the jungles, he was exposed numerous times to the tactical herbicide Agent Orange. The defoliant was used to clear out the jungle canopy to deny cover to the enemy. He suffers from the ill-effects of this chemical to this day. 

There is always a cost.