I came from a military family. In 1940 my dad and his twin brother went into the Navy, right out of high school. Dad was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. Since he wasn't "in for the duration," his service in the Pacific lasted til 1946, and then he tried civilian life for a couple of years, before putting in time in the Army and completing twenty years. During which I attended 13 schools, before I finished 9th grade, none of them on army bases, most of them in tiny farm villages, where the Nike missile base was a barracks for the privates, the missile "silo" was a cramped metal trailer, and the two families with kids were temporary and outsiders. Continue reading

Editors' Note: This was originally published in May 2007, in Main Street, a bi-weekly newspaper from Cambridge, New York. It was written by David Doonan, gp.org web manager. As we applaud our Veterans marching past in Memorial Day parades, it's all to easy to see them as anonymous soldiers, not as individuals. Veterans share a common devotion to duty and patriotism in their desire to serve our country, but they all bring their own unique history and upbringing with them. In the following article we profile three local Veterans who candidly discuss their experiences in the military and their motivations in enlisting. Continue reading