I saw this on Motorcyclist online and just had to post it up. It's gonna leave you with a good feeling I think. -"Fire-Medic":thumbs up::worthy:
WORDS: Adrian Jones – Daphne, AL
SUBMITTED: June 30th, 2012
When I was 9, a man I knew bought his wife a Honda scooter. They were semi-retired and spent many months touring the U.S. in a Winnebago. His logic was she could use it in the motor parks to run around. Well she didn’t like it, and so after much childish coaxing —-begging— and promises of chores and improved school grades, I was allowed to put-put around the yard. Then the street in front of the house, and eventually the 5 mile ride to my house and back. Eventually the little Honda just took up permanent residence at my house. I have been riding every minute I can the 34 years since.
That man was my Grandfather. I contest to this day, he knew my Grandmother wouldn’t like the scooter. She never rode a day in her life. However, this was his way of getting around Moms repeated “No” answer to the “Can I have a dirt bike?” question from me. Many bikes have followed, but that little Honda Express started it all. He never road “recreationally” but had spent time riding a Harley in Europe during WWII. Pop “supported” my riding over the years, always showing much interest in my bikes, including my current ’05 Triumph Tiger. He was the first to see her on my ride back to the Florida Keys from purchasing it in Orlando. I had to make a pit stop in Pompano Beach, Florida as I headed south, and show it off to him.
He never spoke of his time in the Army (where he received the Purple Heart) except to say he rode a Harley WLA, how he enjoyed the machine, and how it helped him through some bad situations. “It was quite a machine.” he would say with a crooked smile and just a slight gleam in his eye.
This man who was so active, and driving till just 2 months ago, is now under Hospice care and his time is short. He taught me many, many things and opened up a world to me I never could have imagined. A better Grandfather no man could have asked for. Now living in Alabama, I may be making a trip soon to Pompano, and I think it would be most fitting to make that trip…on the Tiger. I know he would agree with that.
By the time this makes it to print (if it does) he will most certainly have passed. And my little trip will have concluded. As will one of his, however a new one will just be starting. Godspeed Pop, Godspeed.
Editor's note:
We received word that he passed away recently. We thank him for his service and may he rest in peace…or even better…up in the sky, riding that WLA with his crooked smile and a gleam in his eye. MC
Read more: http://blogs.motorcyclistonline.com/a-man-and-his-grandfather-21377.html#ixzz2BzDoZv17
Also, a VA statistic: http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2011/oct/23/va-nation-losing-wwii-veterans-rate-740-day/
Jake Garcia thumbed slowly through a roster for American Legion Post 62 in Craig CO recently.
Garcia, the post’s commander, was counting veterans in the legion’s membership who served in World War II, a conflict in which millions of Americans served in theaters across Europe and the Pacific.
He found only five.
“World War II veterans are passing away at an alarming rate,” he said the day before.
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirms his conclusion.
The country is losing its World War II veterans at an estimated rate of 740 per day, according to information provided by Jo Schuda, VA spokeswoman. Nationally, 270,200 World War II veterans are projected to die this year, with 3,840 of those deaths in Colorado.
“We’ve lost a great many of our World War II veterans in the last 10 years,” said Jerry Newberry, director of communications for the Veterans of Foreign Wars national headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. “And as every year goes by, that naturally accelerates.”
The national attrition rate is difficult to track, he said, “because veterans live in every community, every corner of the United States.”
And, while most are recognized for their service, “there’s got to be some that just go unnoted,” he added.
Attrition at the local level isn’t easy to pinpoint, either.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s five-year estimate pegs Moffat County’s World War II veteran population at 52, said Ed Wilkinson, Moffat County Veterans Service Officer.
However, he added that he couldn’t estimate how many World War II veterans lived in the county five or 10 years ago.
The loss of these service members hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“I’ve been in Craig over 30 years, and I know we’ve buried a lot of them,” said Larry Neu, quartermaster for VFW Post 4265 in Craig.
As the World War II veteran population dwindles, officials are faced with the task of preserving the history they lived.
Nationally, the VFW participates in a project that records interviews with World War II veterans and preserves them in the Library of Congress, Newberry said.
“We’ve certainly been involved in that for years and years because we understand preserving their stories are important,” he said. “It’s important that their legacy is maintained.”
For their part, local officials also are memorializing the men and women who served in the war.
VFW Post 4265 performs military funerals for service members who served in World War II, as well as for any other veteran.
“Veterans are veterans,” said Mark Wick, post commander said. “We try to take care of them all as best we can.”
The American Legion also performs military funerals for World War II veterans, Garcia said.
“There’s a lot of history” connected to World War II veterans, he said, but that history can be lost.
“Their families have just lost track of the things they’ve done,” he said.
Yet, Newberry believes the country will remember the men and women who served in this war, even as their numbers continue to decline.
“I think their contributions have been such that the memory of their accomplishments, their service and their sacrifice is one that Americans will hold on to for generations to come,” he said.
WORDS: Adrian Jones – Daphne, AL
SUBMITTED: June 30th, 2012
When I was 9, a man I knew bought his wife a Honda scooter. They were semi-retired and spent many months touring the U.S. in a Winnebago. His logic was she could use it in the motor parks to run around. Well she didn’t like it, and so after much childish coaxing —-begging— and promises of chores and improved school grades, I was allowed to put-put around the yard. Then the street in front of the house, and eventually the 5 mile ride to my house and back. Eventually the little Honda just took up permanent residence at my house. I have been riding every minute I can the 34 years since.
That man was my Grandfather. I contest to this day, he knew my Grandmother wouldn’t like the scooter. She never rode a day in her life. However, this was his way of getting around Moms repeated “No” answer to the “Can I have a dirt bike?” question from me. Many bikes have followed, but that little Honda Express started it all. He never road “recreationally” but had spent time riding a Harley in Europe during WWII. Pop “supported” my riding over the years, always showing much interest in my bikes, including my current ’05 Triumph Tiger. He was the first to see her on my ride back to the Florida Keys from purchasing it in Orlando. I had to make a pit stop in Pompano Beach, Florida as I headed south, and show it off to him.
He never spoke of his time in the Army (where he received the Purple Heart) except to say he rode a Harley WLA, how he enjoyed the machine, and how it helped him through some bad situations. “It was quite a machine.” he would say with a crooked smile and just a slight gleam in his eye.
This man who was so active, and driving till just 2 months ago, is now under Hospice care and his time is short. He taught me many, many things and opened up a world to me I never could have imagined. A better Grandfather no man could have asked for. Now living in Alabama, I may be making a trip soon to Pompano, and I think it would be most fitting to make that trip…on the Tiger. I know he would agree with that.
By the time this makes it to print (if it does) he will most certainly have passed. And my little trip will have concluded. As will one of his, however a new one will just be starting. Godspeed Pop, Godspeed.
Editor's note:
We received word that he passed away recently. We thank him for his service and may he rest in peace…or even better…up in the sky, riding that WLA with his crooked smile and a gleam in his eye. MC
Read more: http://blogs.motorcyclistonline.com/a-man-and-his-grandfather-21377.html#ixzz2BzDoZv17
Also, a VA statistic: http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2011/oct/23/va-nation-losing-wwii-veterans-rate-740-day/
Jake Garcia thumbed slowly through a roster for American Legion Post 62 in Craig CO recently.
Garcia, the post’s commander, was counting veterans in the legion’s membership who served in World War II, a conflict in which millions of Americans served in theaters across Europe and the Pacific.
He found only five.
“World War II veterans are passing away at an alarming rate,” he said the day before.
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirms his conclusion.
The country is losing its World War II veterans at an estimated rate of 740 per day, according to information provided by Jo Schuda, VA spokeswoman. Nationally, 270,200 World War II veterans are projected to die this year, with 3,840 of those deaths in Colorado.
“We’ve lost a great many of our World War II veterans in the last 10 years,” said Jerry Newberry, director of communications for the Veterans of Foreign Wars national headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. “And as every year goes by, that naturally accelerates.”
The national attrition rate is difficult to track, he said, “because veterans live in every community, every corner of the United States.”
And, while most are recognized for their service, “there’s got to be some that just go unnoted,” he added.
Attrition at the local level isn’t easy to pinpoint, either.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s five-year estimate pegs Moffat County’s World War II veteran population at 52, said Ed Wilkinson, Moffat County Veterans Service Officer.
However, he added that he couldn’t estimate how many World War II veterans lived in the county five or 10 years ago.
The loss of these service members hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“I’ve been in Craig over 30 years, and I know we’ve buried a lot of them,” said Larry Neu, quartermaster for VFW Post 4265 in Craig.
As the World War II veteran population dwindles, officials are faced with the task of preserving the history they lived.
Nationally, the VFW participates in a project that records interviews with World War II veterans and preserves them in the Library of Congress, Newberry said.
“We’ve certainly been involved in that for years and years because we understand preserving their stories are important,” he said. “It’s important that their legacy is maintained.”
For their part, local officials also are memorializing the men and women who served in the war.
VFW Post 4265 performs military funerals for service members who served in World War II, as well as for any other veteran.
“Veterans are veterans,” said Mark Wick, post commander said. “We try to take care of them all as best we can.”
The American Legion also performs military funerals for World War II veterans, Garcia said.
“There’s a lot of history” connected to World War II veterans, he said, but that history can be lost.
“Their families have just lost track of the things they’ve done,” he said.
Yet, Newberry believes the country will remember the men and women who served in this war, even as their numbers continue to decline.
“I think their contributions have been such that the memory of their accomplishments, their service and their sacrifice is one that Americans will hold on to for generations to come,” he said.
