Veterans Day is a time to remember and show our gratitude to those who have served in the military and whose time of service has ended. While some have experienced the horrors of war, and bear the scars of those battles, others have served to keep the peace in their willingness to be part of the military might of this nation which serves to protect us in times of peace. All have this in common though, each one upon joining their branch of service signed a blank check to our country, redeemable for their very life if necessary. If you know a veteran, be sure to thank him or her today.

These  photos represent my family’s service to the country. Some fought in war and some served in peace. I show them not to brag, or to solicit thanks, but to represent all those who at one time or another, wore a uniform, and stood between our country and its enemies.

William died in 1923 of complications from his bout with flu during the worldwide epidemic in 1918.

Robert enlisted in the Navy in 1943, seven months after I was born. He served in the Pacific during the war. He and my mother divorced in 1945. Robert re-enlisted after the war, and served twenty years retiring in 1965.

William served in combat in Europe during the war. One of his memories was the liberation of one of the Jewish concentration camps (don’t know which one). He came home, got a job and married my mother in 1947. All his life he carried with him scars, both physical and mental, from his time in the service.

I served a three-year “peacetime” gig, most of it while stationed in France doing ordinary soldier stuff: truck driver, mail clerk etc. Viet Nam wasn’t hot yet, but tensions were high in Europe. I was serving when the Berlin wall went up, and also when President Kennedy was assassinated. When I mustered out, as travel pay I received a subway token so I could travel home to Queens from Brooklyn.