For Veteran's Day this past November, I wrote this post about a story my grandfather told me about returning from World War II. That evening, I called my beloved Dad-dad to thank him for his service to our country.
Sidebar: Yesterday brought the sad news that Richard (Dick) Winters, a brave, good, humble, and inspiring man, passed away. A true hero, admired by many, he was the leader of Easy Company of the 101 Airborne during World War II, a company immortalized by the book/miniseries Band of Brothers (Winters himself was brilliantly portrayed by Damian Lewis in that miniseries). He was 92. My grandfather, who served on the aircraft carrier Bonne Homme Richard in the Pacific theatre of that same war, is also 92 (he'll be 93 in June). I am vividly reminded not only of each man's faithful service, but how unbelievable lucky I am to still be able to call my grandfather and have the following conversation, no matter how much I may have wanted to reach through the phone line and swat him upside the head at the time.
