Fathers Day...

[michaelharadon]

The day that honors the most important man in our lives, or, in most of our lives, is almost here. "Honor thy father..."; his status is literally enshrined in the Bible. How did your father's military experience, or outlook if he wasn't a veteran, affect you growing up and on to today? Do you share his values? Were you affected by his experiences? Have your values been shaped by his war or military experiences? Run with it! It would be great to hear from everyone.

[The Inspector]

I sure miss my father, and as time passes I find myself wishing that I'd spent more time with him (and my late Mother too) and talked more with both of them. They were the pivotal influential force in keeping me on the straight and narrow-
If your dad is still with you, go spend a day with him every now and then, even if it's just a car ride and lunch or a beer, it's worth the investment in time, both yours and his.

[Cubs]

My dad fought on Iwo Jima. He rarely talked about it. If you asked him he would say a few things. He said it was something we had to do and was glad to get home. He didn't boast at all.
Not on anything in his life. He had a Ph.d, also. In my teenage years, I thought I was so much smarter than him. Later, in life I started to appreciate him, but then he was gone.

[the330thbg]

That happens. You go away as a teenager and know everything.., then you come home in your early to mid 20's and go 'wow.., Mom, Dad.. you guys are not dumb as bat SH*T'. it is quite the revelation and our kids will do the same thing to us.
Dad never spoke much of his time over the Empire either. He said almost the exact same thing as 'Cubs'. He never boasted and it was only after he died and were going through his footlocker did we find all his medals, etc. He always said all the heroes were the ones who did not make it back. He died of cancer when I was in my early 20's. So I never got the chance to get much 'adult' knowledge out of himm. Never got to use him as a sounding board for life. I missed out on that. He was a man of solid values and never lied. He was one of many of the 'greatest generation'.

cool song and video for those of us who miss our dads! (grainger smith, same guy who did the b-24 'boom boom, round round 'rap KRAP'.). but this song is good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diKBY8mc ... ata_player

Let me warn you, if you lost your dad this song will tear you up. I promise!

Blue Skies, Dad!

[Django]

I'm lucky in the fact that while I live 3 hours away, I talk to my Dad at least 2-3 times per week. Sometimes 2-3 times per day!

It's his fault that I'm into cars and airplanes and music. So I am thankful for that. He did a tour in Vietnam stationed at Da Nang with the 366th Gunfighters, and the first model he bought me was a F-4 that was hopelessly too complicated for a 6 year old! He took me to my first air show (along with my Uncle, a C-47 Flight Engineer with the Kyushu Gypsies in Korea) and I was hooked. As a teen, my parents took me to the NMUSAF on vacation as a research trip for my 4-H model building project. Both of my parents have always been supportive of me. I think I have repaid their nurturing and love by never getting into any kind of real trouble and becoming a responsible business owner and parent. I've included my Dad in some experiences that I never would have dreamed I'd be involved with as a kid. I know they're proud of me. I hope for the same with my own son, who it is turning out is cut from almost the exact same cloth as me, which of course is a blessing way beyond anything I expected when he was born.

I've posted several pics of him on here, and those of you who I am closer friends with know how important my Dad (and my Mom) is to me. But here are a few more.







In '64 with his first car...



today, with the same car which is now mine.



I really feel for you guys who have lost your parents. I know it's a fact of life, but I am not sure how I will get through that someday.

[mustangdriver]

Chad, just let me say that I am honored to have been there for that whole deal at Grissom. Anyone that was there could see the care and love that you and your dad have for one another. I still get a little teary eyed thinking of him standing up there all day to block the wind for you to paint.

[mustangdriver]

My dad...how to sum him up. My dad growing up was the Dad that did things for me that I just thought were normal, that today I see is not always the case. After along day at the Steel Mill (yes he was and still is a Pittsburgh steel worker) he would put his stuff away from work, get a shower, then come out to the back yard where we played catch, and in later years tuned on cars, or just BS. When I was 12 I wanted to start volunteering at the local air museum. It was about a 30 minute drive. So after working the night shift, he would come home and take me to the airport. My mom was willing, but my dad enjoyed it. My Dad worked the night shift to earn a pay increase to put me through college where I earned my CTO. Something I use everyday. He never mentioned until recent years of his time in Vietnam. Even now it is very limited in what he talks about. When I got a divorce back in 2007, he was there to make sure I was OK. When I got remarried last summer, he was my best man. As a kid, he was dad, and as an adult he is one of my best friends. Now that I am a dad, I just hope I can be half as good a man as him.

[michaelharadon]

When my father was 15, he got his mother to sign papers saying he was of age to join the Merchant Marine. Ships were being sunk like soap bubbles popping in the bath tub, and I imagine that the people he gave those papers to didn't examine them very closely for particulars. I believed it even more when I found out from my mom that he didn't have a pair of shoes that fit from the depression until he enlisted. He told me that back then he and his friends worried that the war would end before they were able to get in to do their part.

For him there was the North Atlantic in winter with wave tops towering over his station on the wing of the bridge, knowing that there were stories or rumors, whichever, of liberty ships breaking up in storms because of structural weaknesses. There were U-boats and being torpedoed, plenty of bombs, and one time in sketchy weather water spouts close by from either bombs or a German navy ship said to be stalking the convoy. At Normandy ("Mike, you'll never see fireworks like Utah Beach at night on June 6") a shell exploded over his ship, killing several on deck that he was talking with and wounding him. And somewhere between the East Coast and the British Isles, in convoy, he told with tears in his eyes of passing by a torpedoed tanker so closely that he could see his best buddy hopelessly trying to launch a life boat that wasn't going to go down its rails because the tanker was listing in the wrong direction and my dad knew that between the flaming oil on the water and the cold-go figure-his friend was done for.

And then, at Okinawa, "we sounded battle stations and just as I got one leg swung over the gun tub I heard all the noise in the world coming at me from behind and I turned around and froze because it looked like the kamikaze was headed right for me. It was close enough for me to see the goggles and scarf on the pilot and he just cleared our masts and hit the next ship over." That's pretty much an exact quote; those words got seared into me forever the first time I heard them, as did the sight of him crying as he told them. Shame, fear, who knows. Whatever it was he was feeling, I had no idea how to give him love for it. It was pretty stunning to see him cry. I know I've mentioned it twice, but those were about the only two time I ever saw him cry.

The peace was signed while he was still 18. He was a brave man and a good father and raised a family with the same dedication he fought the Axis. The war ended for him the day he died in the mid '80's.

I'm missing him like I haven't since way back when he taught me how to make plastic models.

'If heaven weren't so far away, I'd pick up some beer and go for the day.'-from a CW song I heard yesterday.

"Oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife that more than self their country loved..."-America. I love how it's sung by Ray Charles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUjr8EVgBg

[tom d. friedman]

my dad is gone 3 years now, he'd be 95 & full of piss & vinegar if still alive. he was a rifle company commander 31st infantry division, company I 155th infantry regiment. he fought from dutch new guinea to morotai to mindanoa. retired a major. he started talking about his combat experiences late in life. my only regret is there are so many unasked questions, some i didn't have the nerve to ask him out of utmost respect.

[michaelharadon]

"my only regret is that there are so many unasked questions..." So true for many of us-I don't know if the kamikaze that almost hit my father's ship was at Okinawa or at Iwo Jima. That, and many, many others.

If your dad is still alive, start asking.

[Jim W]

My Grandfather was wounded whilst serving in the Royal Engineers in the first world war, I believe it was whilst digging one of the large mines, certainly we understood that he was underground at the time - the reason we are not sure of the details is that never really spoke of it to his family- only to old comrades. My father was one of the few National Servicemen ( conscripted troops) to serve in the Korean war with the REME. Again he is always very reluctant to discuss it apart from the horrendous journey home he had in a troop ship that got damaged in the Suez canal which meant they had to spend an extra three weeks in transit . All I know is that he absolutely hated the experience and wanted nothing to do with the Army after he was demobbed. There seems to be a pattern in many veterans that they wish to try and push those experiences to one side and I certainly would not wish to intrude- it is their choice.

It was my father that spurred my interest in aeroplanes by taking me and my brother to Old Warden in the late 1960's- I try and return the complement these days by taking him once a year.

[Rauhbatz]

My dad was air sea rescue in WW2...based at Murrell's inlet with a B-25 cannon strike wing and then out in the Pacific on Guam and elsewhere. He claimed to have never needed to buy a drink for all of the guys he fished out of the water.....and said he had the fastest boat in the USAF!

He finished his tour in the 20th AF picking B-29 crew alive/not alive out of the drink...he didn't talk much about the latter...

I regret not being able to take my Dad flying...Alzheimer's prevented that from happening...but when I go flying tomorrow I'll have the feeling he will be next to me...

[262]

I want to go the other way, my son was a father on thursday June 16,2011.He soloed our airplane on his 16 birthday and loves fast cars,has a corvette Z06.he is active duty in the army and did 243 missions in iraq.he earned a bronze star for heroism when the convoy was hit by a IED and ambush,has two confermed enemy kills.he has proved himself a man and will prove himself a good father.i like to think i was a good father if my son proves he is a good father.bill

[michaelharadon]

Happy Father's Day to all dads, wherever they may be. I posted a picture of my dad in uniform on my fb page.

[Lt51506]

Dear Dad,

You were cool when "Cool" was the rule.....


...you taught me things that I'd never forget, lessons that don't come from books....


....you're gone now, but I'm alive today because of your wisdom, sacrafice, and dedication to, "Doing it right the first time.."


....Thanks Dad, for giving me life, aviation, and the courage to stand up against all odds.

Dad served in Korea, went on to work for the US Forest Service and eventially the California Department of Forestry. He was instrumental in getting the airtanker program into the frontline, and making sure it was done safely. Can't say we always saw eye to eye, but he had the wisdom to look outside thye box. He stood face to face with Governor's and a President and has the balls to tell them that they're information was screwed up....then attempt to educate them about how important aviation resources were to the safety of America. Love you and miss you Dad.

Your grateful and loving son,
Tom