Memorial Day...2012

I was born in September 1943; the war in Europe and the Pacific was still going on and as a newborn I was sparred the horror of the carnage and death that war brings. My father, Ted and my uncle John both served in the south pacific. My father in the Navy on a LST (landing ship transport) and my uncle with the Marines. Thank God both returned home after the war ended without any physical injuries. Neither of them talked much about the war but carried their experiences within them. Both, now, have passed away but are not forgotten. My wife, a year younger than I, lost an uncle who was in the Army fighting in the south pacific...where his final resting place is no one knows...his name was Lawrence (Larry) Spillan, a young man just starting his life. Where his life may have taken him, if he had survived, no one knows.

Many years latter I served in the Navy as a physician and orthopedic surgeon; this was for several years during the Viet Nam War. During this period I was married to Kristina (Tina) and we had four children. I never was sent in "harms way' but I did see the carnage and at times the death that war brings. I cared for the wounded young marines and navy personnel who were returned to the States via Medivac flights. I don't remember names but remember the many devastated bodies and lives that would be forever changed. These are some of the memories that I carry today.

Thank you to all who served our country, in the past, and to all currently serving in any capacity today. God bless the United States of American and all the individuals who have protected her over the decades.