80 degree temperatures, the smile on your face, the fresh air in your room, your cracking voice, John Wayne, cans of Mountain Dew. All these things remind me of you you, my grandfather, my role model and my hero.

I remember when we went fishing together it was your last time fishing and you felt free. Free to be you, free from the confined space of your apartment in Neenah, free to be with your family and you were happier than you ever were. The sun was beating down on us but the cool mist from the musky rods line being unraveled when you toss the bait made the whole day feel relaxing. Though we never caught a musky we were happy and free.

There are many things I love about you, like me and you sitting back in your big comfy cream colored chairs in your apartment, relaxing and listening to your stories of war and our family. We watch the old John Wayne Movies like “Big Jake” and “Hondo” together. Then we talk about our family and the problems like Brielle going in for surgery or Aunt Betty’s cancer, as well as the new stuff happening to us everyday like church or school or your nursing homes activities. I love taking you to culvers and having a big fat greasy burger and some fries. I love to pick you up for church every Sunday and listening to the preacher talk about god and after we talk to all of the people that attended that morning. I love to take you to my house and have a cook out with our family eating a sirloin steaks or hamburgers or even fat gray brats on the grill.
I love sitting down listening to your WWII stories about the bullets rushing past your head and the sounds of the planes and the guns on the beaches of Okinawa.

I remember the time you went on the Old Glory Flight to Washington DC with my dad. You saw all the monuments like the Washington Monument and the Capital building. You saw all the memorials from wars like the Eisenhower and the Lincoln and the Korean memorial. You also got to see the Arlington Cemetery and all the dead soldiers from past wars and the vast amount of brave people like you that served this country and kept it free. Our family watched you and my dad get off the plane, thousands of people joined us to welcome you and the 92 other war veterans that went with you home. Your smiling face from the overwhelming surprise we gave you is embedded in my memory forever. When you told us “You guys made me feel like a real hero” made all the waiting and money worth it.

You are a real hero not just of war but of life, my life. Thank you for the lessons you have taught me like to have a giving heart to give money to church or to be kind to all even if you have a grudge against them. Thank you for all you have done.


Love,

Zach