Navy lineage through two sisters who married two brothers (my sister Patter [Mary Patricia] wed John; Julie, Joe). That side of the family has Navy roots going back to World War II. (Joe & John's father was a Navy pilot in in the second World War.)
Julie's daughter Ashley married Chris, also a sailor, who prepared and repaired vehicles & helicopters from an aircraft carrier providing support in Afghanistan. Her younger sister, Caroline, also married a Navy man.
(Chris's best friend married Patter's daughter, Julia, upon returning home from his support duties, too.)
Patter's son George is a warrant officer in the Army. My sister Frances has a son and a daughter in the Army.
After their divorce and my father's death in 1973, my mother married a Marine and Vietnam veteran, Gregory, 20 years later.
Finally, my close friend John served in Vietnam as a medic, and some of the security people at work are veterans as well. One is a Marine training to be a Boston firefighter.
Ten years ago, I lived under the roof of a career firefighter in Savin Hill. One of my housemates, who could not have been more than 22 years old, served in Iraq.
Fallujah and Mosul.
Blew my mind.
In the event, I thank all American military personnel, each and every one, active or veteran, for their service to our country and civilians like me.
Please forgive if this sounds inane or scolding. That is not my purpose.
Even so, 3% of our population does the fighting and dying for the rest of us.
"Freedom has a price the protected will never know."
"Freedom isn't free."
Again, some gave, some give, all.
With deep respect from a grateful nation,
Jeremiah P. Mahoney had been missing in action since 1945. His remains will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery in 2025.
www.nytimes.com
The holiday, which originally marked the end of World War I, was broadened in the 1950s to honor all veterans.
www.nytimes.com