Veterans' Day

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     Veterans Day is this week.  Let us all not forget the contributions of our valiant servicemen, who have secured our safety and way of life.  This Veterans Day, I wish to pay special tribute to my great-grandfather.  He is a member of what Tom Brokaw has so perfectly coined "the Greatest Generation."  And he is great!  They just don't make them like this anymore.

     He is 96 years old.  He was born in a bedroom of a farmhouse in lower Michigan.  He is a child of the Depression.  He was one of five sons of Reformed Mennonite parents.  He and his brothers were only allowed to receive education until they reached eighth grade because their parents expected them to help work the farm.  My great-grandfather has always loved to learn, so this was one of his greatest regrets.

     My great-grandfather met the love of his life at a community social and they were married and had a baby.  At this time, World War II had broken out.  He followed the call of his country with three of his brothers despite the fact that his parents were Reformed Mennonites, whom are pacifists.  Reformed Mennonites do not raise their children in their church; they leave it to their child to choose whether or not he or she joins the church in adulthood.  He easily could have avoided the war, as a conscientious objector, because his family was Reformed Mennonite.  But he did the right thing.  He left his wife and newborn son, and ended up fighting the Japanese in Okinawa.  He became the communication officer for his company despite only achieving education up to the eighth grade.  He carried an 80-pound radio on his back in and out of the trenches.  In addition, he received a Purple Heart for injuries suffered in battle.

    He and his brothers were the lucky ones.  They all came back.   Although they all had lingering health effects following their service, they were still alive.  He then went on to work a factory job for forty years, and managed his own farm while not working at the factory.  He joined his family's Reformed Mennonite church and eventually became a minister.  Because of his religious beliefs, he has never had a television, and has never missed having one.  This humble, hard-working man was able to put his own five children through college.  One obtained a PhD, and three obtained Master's degrees.  He too furthered his education.  Although the entire family agrees that he is probably the smartest man we know, he always regretted that he could not finish education.  He went back and gained his GED at the age of 84.

      We hold on to him dearly because all his brothers are gone, his wife is gone, and he is one of the last of the Greatest Generation.  We still have so much to learn from him.  At 96 years old, he's probably the only person I know who doesn't judge and who is truly giving; he is a treasure of a man.  This week he's having gall bladder surgery against the advice of his cardiologist because he doesn't like the diet restrictions he's on.  He says, "I can't eat pumpkin pie and I want to.  So I have to do this because it's a quality-of-life thing."  We pray that his surgery is uneventful.

      Another incredible thing about him is that he still lives on his farm by himself and he still drives!