Veteran's Day 2021

 

Today is Veteran’s Day in America, originally called Armistice Day at the end of World War 1.

It is also the anniversary of my father’s birth (November 11, 1927), he would be 94 today, but he passed from cancer of the throat in 2018. When we was 16 he convinced his mother, Thelma (Booth) Headrick, a single mom with two sons, to sign a paper saying he was 17 so he could join the Merchant Marines. He was on a supply ship during the invasion of the Philippines, his ship was strafed by a Japanese fighter and the man in front of him was wounded.  When he returned to the States he was now thought to be 18 and he joined the Army and was sent to Germany where the war was over. He said that the Russians would often take pot shots at them and they in return would do the same. When the war with Japan ended he was discharged and returned to the States. He got a job as an accountant for Sears but was not really happy so he joined the Navy. He was stationed aboard the USS Sperry in San Diego where he met Barbara Jean Colburn. They dated and got married in January of 1951 (during the Korean war) and I was born on December 8, 1951. He then was station in Hawaii for two years and my sister Josephine was born in 1953; after that he was stationed in Japan and our brother Steven was born, then he was stationed in Texas. He was discharged in 1957 and we moved to San Antonio where our sister Lynn was born.

My father Robert (Bob) Benjamin Headrick was a veteran of three services during two wars by his own choice. I am a veteran of the Navy (Vietnam) and the Navy Reserve, both my sisters are veterans of the Army. My son is a veteran of the army and spent 3 years in Korea. We have many family members who are veterans of the US Military, including my cousin Alan Headrick who retired as a Captain of the Navy (TAR).

I and my family Thank all who have served our Nation at any time in any of our military services.

GOD Bless America and GOD Bless our Military Service Members and their families.