More on fathers...

Well, again, I have been inspired to write a bit about fathers and grandfathers by some of the posts here.

I am enormously proud of the family I come from, not only hard-working brilliant folk, but sometime war veterans as well. My maternal grandfather fought in the infantry in World War II in Italy. "It'ly" as he would say. My mother was born while he was overseas and did not meet her father until a year later. An imperfect man in many ways, but no less proud and loving of the family he cultivated, he passed on several years ago in Northern VA.

My paternal grandfather was a combat pilot in the Korean War, sometimes known as the Forgotten War. He flew the Corsair which can be viewed in the Air & Space museums in DC and Northern VA. A great man, I am told, for I never had the privilege to meet him, as he died in plane crash when my father was 21.

My father's second wife is a native of South Korea and with her help, he wrote a beautiful work of fiction several years ago called "The Land of the Morning Storm", a touching story that narrates both from the American soldier's point of view in the war and the Korean perspective as well. If anyone ever would like to borrow a copy, I'm happy to loan it to you, it's not readily available in stores.

My ancestors came over to the new world on the ship "Mayflower" where they landed at Plymouth Rock and I am directly descended from the first governor of Massachusetts. My ancestors have fought in the American Revolution, the Civil War (on the side of the Union), and every war that America has fought since it's inception. I hope that I do them justice in memory and in my own beliefs.

And for Ciara's benefit (she told me I had to write this as well), my European ancestry is Welsh, Irish, Scottish, and of course, the cuisine-lacking Brits. Hopefully I inherited more from the Monty Python boys than the cooks. :-)