As Fathers Day approaches I ‘spose it’s normal for a person to think about their Dad. I’m no different.
I don’t know, it was some where around my 14th-15th year when he stopped drinking and I found out what a Dad really was.
We did a lot of talking while road hunting or driving to the lakes to fish.
With so much current events like which lake to go to and spotted a gopher along the road, we didn’t have much time to talk about things in his past and well, he knew my past.
I remember on spring morning on our way to Lake Ripely, someone died that we both knew. Dad knew him better then me. We talked about how he died but not too in depth. Dad said kind of out of the blue “I’ve been ready to die since I went into the service”. That stuck with me for some reason, maybe because I wondered how can anyone be ready for that long of a time. The war was over by at least 30 years.
As I was looking for a business card tonight I came across Dad’s old Association card. I’ve never read the back of it until now.
In case it’s too small to read, it says this:
The bearer is a member of the famous Thirty-Fourth Infantry Division Association. This Division in World War II had the distinction of being not only the FIRST to land in the EUROPEAN THEATER, but also had more days in combat (over 600) than any other, and was accredited with capturing more than 40,000 prisoners. The 34th ranked second to none and stands high on the scroll of honor among the greatest fighting units that ever carried the Stars and Stripes into battle.”
I think I get it now, Happy Fathers Dad…
Your cork is down.
To You Your Dad and The 34th. 
