Memories Of A Daughter On Veteran's Day

My sister called me a few days ago talking about how the smell of Jergens hand lotion brought back visions of Grandma's house, and asked, "could you please look through the old photographs for a photo of the grandparent's front door?.... I loved that curved door with it's amazing black hand-pounded hinges and circular paned window? Being a good sister, I went up to our storage room and began my search, which culminated in "finding her photo", and finding lots of other LOST MEMORIES too!

Since I am the genealogist for our family, I am the keeper of all of the old photo albums, letters, and other "junk and stuff". I take my job quite seriously, if you ask anyone in my extended family. I find it an honor to be the custodian of so many wonderful memories.

While searching I found the stack of letters my father, David A Gettman, wrote to my mother who was waiting for him on a rural farm out in Oregon. Among those letters were the telegrams from the US Navy, to my grandparents (the ones with the beautiful door), when my dad was shot on the USS Thomas Jefferson early in 1945, by an officer cleaning his gun in the cabin next door.

Yes, not a "hero's story", but none-the-less he was shot. I can only imagine the days of waiting to find out if he would live or not. He was in Honolulu, so he had good care at Haneohe Bay Naval Air Station Hospital, and was one of the first to have penicillin put directly on a wound. He obviously lived, and went on to serve for a bit longer on smaller ships.

He was a "radioman", and most of the people in the groups he was attached to, attribute living through WWII, to my Dad. Without their "radioman", they could not be part of the invasion of Okinawa....this saved many of his buddies lives.

Here's to you dad, and all of the proud men and women who are serving or have served in the US Military. We owe you all so much!!