Real Good Thing!

My first blog was one that focused mainly on politics and my own very conservative opinions about them. After a few years I lost interest in that for the most part and let it rest except for an occasional post. Lisa’s post about her husband’s success as a teacher made me think of one I had made about my father. The post I wrote was prompted by an article which contneded that young Americans are being duped into the military with the promise of educational benefits. Since I do not want this blog to become political I will only post a part of what I wrote.

But first, a little background: My father was born in Brooklyn in 1931. He was the youngest of seven children. When he was 3 months old his father died suddenly. This left his mother to raise all of them through the depression. When he was 17 my father joined the Army. When he was 18 he was sent to Korea. Before he was 19 he was a sergeant, the leader of a machine gun squad and had seen 3 of his 5 closest friends killed, one who’s head was blown off only inches from him. Within months of his 19th birthday he was nearly killed by a mortar shell. He would spend years recuperating and has never fully recovered. He came home and put himself through school, made a career as a teacher and educator, then worked as a postal carrier and retired as a farmer and rancher.

Here is part of that post-

“What should you have to sacrifice to get a college education in the United States? Isn’t it hard enough to get good grades and high SAT scores? Should you have to risk your life as well?” - Beth Shulman

A good question. My father used his GI Bill benefits to help pay for his college education. Benefits earned, in part, during six months of front-line combat in some of the bloodiest days of the Korean War. He also bears the scars and permanent, partial disability of five combat wounds.

My father earned his GED in the Army. Since he was disabled his tuition and books were paid for via his GI Bill. He received a living allowance of $200 per month. My father completed his Bachelor’s Degree in just three years. Because of his high grades, his fourth year was credited to his Master’s Degree in Education Administration, which he completed in only five summers. During that time he was asked to do his Master’s thesis on “A Comparison of the Legal Requirements for Teachers in Texas and the Other States.” It became part of part of the largest study, at that time, of “Teachers and Education in Texas,” commissioned by the Texas Legislature.

My father lived with my mother and their three small children in a house of three small rooms on 5 acres south of Burleson, Texas. They raised much of their own food plus eggs and milk. His commute to Texas Christian University was 70 miles round-trip. He further contributed to his own education by working weekends as a limousine driver between Fort Worth, the Amon Carter Airport, and Dallas. Two twelve-hour shifts every weekend. He was only paid 12 dollars per shift, plus tips. There were hardly any tips. Between runs he studied. My mother did most of the work at the farm but my father did help with milking and other things. That, Ms. Shulman, is what you have to be willing “to sacrifice to get a college education in the United States.”

Of course, my father also didn’t drive a brand new car, have the latest home entertainment or computer equipment, designer fashions or spend his money “clubbing” every night, so he probably sacrificed more for his education than most students are willing to today.

End Post

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I wish that I could put into words how truly proudI am that such a man is my father. He is, without a doubt, the best man I will ever know.

I originally wrote this on 1 May as an e-mail to family and friends, intending to post it here as well. It got shoved off my plate by something else.

I marked the occasion of going over 19 years of total active federal military service back on April 4th (my enlistment date). I was on leave at the time and remembered it. But, I didn’t realize until lunch Tuesday that I will be eligible to retire exactly one year from today.

I was having lunch at Hard Times Café in Arlington with my minister, Kurt, and my friend, Justin. We were talking about what I might like to do after I retire when I realized the date and said that I had exactly one year left. Justin, who’s a project manager for DMJM, a huge construction firm, immediately said, “Give me your resume.” (Yeah, I love living in a town where you can’t mention you’re retiring from the Air Force without people asking for your resume!)

So, one more year. I have less time left in the Air Force than I spent in Korea. (1 year and 10 days thanks to an incompetent orderly room.) I never imagined when I enlisted over 19 years ago that I would do this for nearly half my life thus far. When I enlisted my plan was to do four years and out. I was going to learn about computers, get my GI Bill money, and get out. But something always kept me going for another tour. Sometimes it was pride in the service, sometimes it was the job, and sometimes it was just job security. And here I am at the other end of a career getting ready to move on to something better, I have no doubt.

Lisa at “Outnumbered” has a post about her son doing some “outside the box” thinking. This reminded me of something my middle child, Taylor, came up with. I’ve always been proud of my kids for being very abstract thinkers. Their pediatrician was always amazed at the way they were able to think of things that they shouldn’t at their age.

In 4th grade here in Virginia they are studying the Civil War and Taylor came up with his own little mnemonic for remembering whcih sides Grant and Lee fought for.  “Lee spelled backwards is eel, and eels live mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, so Lee fought for the South.”

 Do eels actually live mostly in the Southern Hemisphere? I don’t care, as long as he can rememeber the information he needs to.