Darcy said...
My dad?He was a Marine who served in WWII on the U.S.S. Idaho.
Grew up with my mom and dated her for a bit before she married someone else and had 3 kids. Sadly, my mom's first husband died young and guess who was there to step in? :)
My dad didn't mess up his second chance, and they had four more kids to boot!Father to seven children. Great provider, great listener...my favorite fishing partner and my mom's biggest fan.
Miss you, Dad.
You have him with you everyday kid. Especially in how you treat your children.
My dad?He was a Marine who served in WWII on the U.S.S. Idaho.
Grew up with my mom and dated her for a bit before she married someone else and had 3 kids. Sadly, my mom's first husband died young and guess who was there to step in? :)
My dad didn't mess up his second chance, and they had four more kids to boot!Father to seven children. Great provider, great listener...my favorite fishing partner and my mom's biggest fan.
Miss you, Dad.
You have him with you everyday kid. Especially in how you treat your children.
4 comments:
The USS Idaho saw some heavy action in the last several months of the war. From the Wiki:
Idaho's mighty guns were need for the next giant amphibious assault on the way to Japan. She sailed from San Diego on 20 January 1945 to join a battleship group at Pearl Harbor. After rehearsals she steamed from the Marianas on 14 February for the invasion of Iwo Jima. As marines stormed ashore 19 February Idaho was again blasting enemy positions with her big guns, and fired star shells at night to illuminate the battlefield. She remained off Iwo Jima until 7 March, when she underway for Ulithi and the last of the great Pacific assaults -- Okinawa.
Idaho sailed on 21 March 1945 as part of Rear Admiral Deyo's Gunfire and Covering Group and flagship of Bombardment Unit 4. She arrived offshore on 25 March and began silencing enemy shore batteries and pounding installations. The landings began 1 April, and as the Japanese made a desperate attempt to drive the vast fleet away with suicide attacks, Idaho's gunners shot down numerous planes. In a massed attack 12 April the battleship shot down five kamikazes before suffering damage to her port blisters from a near-miss. After temporary repairs she sailed 20 April and arrived at Guam five days later.
The veteran of so many of the landings of the Pacific quickly completed repairs and returned to Okinawa 22 May to resume fire support. Idaho remained until 20 June 1945, then sailed for battle maneuvers in Leyte Gulf until hostilities ceased 15 August 1945.
Idaho made her triumphal entry into Tokyo Bay with occupation troops on 27 August, and was anchored there during the signing of the surrender on board the Missouri, on 2 September.
Oh, gosh! That was my dad! He was a gunner and he helped shoot down one of those kamikazes. He was awarded a bronze star.
Thanks, chickenlittle.
And thanks, Trooper. Sweet of you to front page this.
That looks like me at that age too, Trooper. We've just found a treasure trove of family photos up at the lake in the attic of the cabin where my parents lived every summer. A huge trunk. When I get them sorted, I'm going to post some on my blog and you'll see the similarity.
Great choice for a photo! And yeah, he's with me every day. Thanks again.
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