Today we celebrate Memorial Day, a day meant for the nation to honor its war dead. Fortunately, I haven’t experienced the loss of anyone I know in war. But today, as I thought about the day, I thought about my father and his friends, all who served in WWII.  So, today my thoughts have been about friends lost – both in war and because of war.

As a kid, I was fascinated by my father’s high school yearbook. First of all, everyone looked to be about 35.  So formal, well groomed. So mature looking. It was hard to believe that they were actually 17 or 18.   Secondly, it was fun to read what people had written about my dad.  A great student and good athlete, most of the entries were “Eddie, wouldn’t have made it through Latin (or English or history) without you.”  Or “Eddie, nice stride. Keep running at Notre Dame.”  I think all kids wonder what their parents were like and my dad, according to his yearbook, was an all-around great guy. People raved about his smarts and his dry wit.  There were a few mysterious entries – some that might have implied my father had been up to some mischief, but when asked, he would just smile and say he couldn’t remember the context.

I would ask my dad about his who were his friends and when I’d read what someone had written, asked what ever happened to him/her.  For the girls, he was generally vague but for the guys, he’d reply that “We lost him in the war.”  or “I’m not sure, we lost touch because of the war.”   As a kid, long before Facebook, email and cheap long distance, it still seemed hard for me to believe that my dad had lost contact with so many of his high school friends. He had a very good friend, Harry Flanagan, who even went to Notre Dame with him yet, because of the war, they lost touch.

My father never went to the frontlines of the war. He spent his time in the service state-side. I only know of two jobs he had in the Navy – one was the athletic director teaching people to swim and box. Not sure what the boxing was about. Hand to hand combat? Confidence? Who knows? And the other was in intelligence evaluating tips from citizens about suspicious people. My father told us how they had a neighbor in Great Neck who was German. This gentleman had a telescope and enjoyed watching the stars. My dad got the report that someone from the neighborhood reported him – now believing he was a spy getting messages via the telescope. My dad laughed as he said he marked that one as non-urgent.

My father and his three brothers all served during WWII. All came home safe. My grandparents were very fortunate.

Today as I thought about Memorial Day, I thought about how many people, like my father have served, those who have come home and those who haven’t. Those who have fought in wars that the majority greatly supported and those who have served in those which have faced opposition. Regardless, I think as Americans, we are always behind our military. They fight to protect our rights, even the right to disagree with our government’s decisions about war.  Today we remember and we say thank you, today and every day, for your service.