Every day is Veteran’s Day here at MilitaryBricks.com but on this Veteran’s Day I want to take a few minutes to share with you a little about the pride that we have in the members of our own family who served to defend our freedom we enjoy today. For many of us, it is the service of those closest to us that has given us not just an interest in the military but the utmost respect for all who have served. I am most proud of my father pictured above who served in the US Marine Corps during the early 1960’s. If you’ve been raised by a US Marine you might agree that they have a unique parenting approach that no doubt was influenced by their experiences with the corps. My father was always fair and disciplined….self disciplined. Dad gave affection when needed and we never flinched his hand. We did however have to meet standard when it came to obedience. This is when my father tapped into the unique marine way of enforcing expected behaviors. I remember one of my older brothers would not stop leaning on one leg of his chair at the dinner table. After several days of telling him to stop, dad went to his garage and built a one legged chair for my brother to sit on for several weeks. This was his way of solving these kind of problems. Although my career route was not through the USMC I do feel that I have benefited from it indirectly. We always felt safe when Dad was home. I just want to thank you Dad for who you’ve been and what you’ve done not only for our country but for me and our family.
Great content! Keep up the good work!
That what I call love and respect.
Great entry about your father Andy! I too did not follow in the military business that a lot of my family was in, I was contemplating it when a fire department in the Houston area was hiring and I was lucky and got to work a dream job that most little boys want to do growing up. I was blessed to work in that profession for 10 years before being medically retired due to an injury at a house fire. I then worked for a sheriff’s department for two years in Oklahoma before lucking out a third time and getting to work my third dream job of being a first generation railroader for 8 years. Unfortunately due to previous injuries sustained in the FD and the rigorous work on the railroad my health took a nose dive.
I come from a long line of service on both sides of my family, both of my grandfathers were WWII veterans, my older brother did 8 years as a US Army Medic and then 23 years as a police officer in the Houston area. I now have a nephew and niece in law who are both in the US Army, my nephew is a Captain in Special Forces and my niece in law is a Lieutenant, they are a married US Army Couple who met in college, were commissioned together and have been serving the same amount of years and who are also career soldiers.
I have numerous cousins who have served in the Army, Marines and Navy and one that served in the Airforce, I also have three living uncles who were Airforce, Army and Marines. Service runs in my family both military and civilian (law enforcement,) My US Marine cousin became a law enforcement officer after his military service was up and is still a LEO to this day.
Most of my friends are veterans, currently serving or law enforcement officers, I am proud of their service and enjoy being around those who have worn a uniform in service to their fellow man and also enjoy those who appreciate and honor veterans and first responders, we need more people like that in this country.