By ARLENE JOHNS
A letter to my son:
Dear Chad,
On Veterans Day I want to take the opportunity to tell you once again how very honored I am to be your mother.
You frequently remind me that I wasn’t too sure when you announced your plans to join the Navy. But I was never more proud than I was the moment I saw you and hundreds of other young men and women marching into that great hall to graduate from basic training.
You had made it!
And I barely recognized you.
My boy was replaced by a splendid young man who I knew would do whatever was required to protect this great country. For nearly a year you did just that – serving in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Harry S. Truman. I lived on pins and needles. But at last you returned home and I could breathe again.
And you continue serving your country. Thank you.
Those of us who enjoy the sacrifices you and many others make don’t say it often enough.
This afternoon while walking to the Kernville McDonald’s for lunch, I met a tiny man with a big smile. His hat indicated he was a veteran and I smiled back.
I asked about his hat.
“Want to know where I was in 1944?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Where were you in 1944?”
He told me, but I did not know where he meant. Those locations – Normandy, Flanders, Kursk, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima – lack meaning to me.
But I know those who served there will never forget them.
“I was in the infantry,” he added.
I don’t know where he went or what he was up to in 1944, but I know this: What he and thousands of others did in those dark days changed the course of history and kept freedom alive.
They were just boys – most of them younger than you are now.
And yet all of them gave their best – and many gave their all.
I thanked him for his service as I blinked back a tear.
“You guys are my heroes,” I said. And I meant it!
So happy Veterans Day, my son. May you and the many other veterans know that you are truly appreciated.
Love, Mom
Arlene Johns is the city editor of The Tribune-Democrat.
