YanceyGreenhorn
Still Not a Moderator
Got family here visiting. My grandfather came with them. You talk about a resilient 90 year old man. He’s beaten cancer twice and currently has blood cancer which he’s getting treated for. He’s on home kidney dialysis which he does himself and that takes over 5 hours a day. I always ask him about his time as a Corpsman and he lights up. Yesterday he was telling me about being up in the Great Lakes in the winter during his training and there being no heat in the barracks. He said they always looked forward to their classes and training bc there was heat, but dreaded free time/bed time. He said “maybe they were trying to make us tougher, but I was too cold to ever determine whether it worked or not.” Then he talked about the Korean War and all the Marines he worked with, and on. One of his tougher times was having to work on all the Korean POW’s that got wounded after trying to overthrow the camp. When he got out of the service he became a contractor and did chemistry regarding the missiles we had in Italy. It’s weird, he worked on them and my grandad on mom’s side was part of the Manhattan Project lol. Him and Grandmom did a lot of world travel up until 9/11. He’s got some great stories about going to Nova Scotia with her and fishing for pickerel, trout and perch. He was raised by a single mother that had different men around all the time and he never knew his father. Last year my aunt tried to get him to do one of those ancestry tests and he said “I’m not interested in that. Just because I didn’t know who my father was, doesn’t mean I want to find out. I’ve made it this far without him.” I’ve mentioned it before but he fudged his birth certificate so he could get in the Navy at 16 and start a new life. His mom practically disowned him for it since she wanted him to stay stuck in the chaotic life they had. I’m grateful to still have some time with him and today we’re taking him up to the Smokies.
BTW...my dad is 93+.
