Natural Born Killer

Yesterday was Memorial Day, May 26, 2008. All the TV coverage reminded me of my Dad. He was the closest contact I have had to a real veteran who served in combat. He was very tough guy.

Growing up with my Dad in the military, we spent a lot of time watching "war movies". My Dad always thought they were silly. I would ask him about the War, he served in the Army as a Tank Sergeant on a Flame Throwing Tank. He landed on the beach at Okinawa. Dad told me about the Japanese fighting to the death, hiding in caves and refusing to surrender. He told me his tank shot napalm flames into to these caves and it either burned the Japanese or burned all the oxygen for them to breath. He was pretty matter of fact about killing Japanese soldiers. In his view, they deserved it.

My Dad's tank was hit by a hand grenade or mortor and it damaged the track. The tank was struck and could not move. My Dad and the other crew decided to abandon the tank. It was sitting still and full of napalm, an easy target. As they ran back to the US lines my Dad was attacked by a Japanese soldier with a sword. My Dad shot the soldier and the sword is in my home. Again, Dad never bragged about what he did, he just talked about it very matter of fact.

Years later when I told him I was going to buy a Japanese car he told me not to bring it to his house. His one big disappointment was not killing more Japanese. I asked him once if he was ever scared in the war. He said, "Yes, I was very scared. We sailed on a ship from San Francisco to Okinawa. The Japanese tried to sink our ship. And, I never learned to swim." He never said he was scared of fighting or of being killed. From what I read one US soldier out of three was killed who landed on Okinawa.

My Dad never had a sleepless night. Never looked back on what he did. He never bragged. He never carried on about how the War had "changed" him or gave him bad dreams. He never joined the VFW or participated in Parades. Dad, said there were two kinds of soldiers. Some were killers and others marched in Parades. Dad was a killer who did not look back. He is buried at the Jefferson Barrack's National Cemetery with thousands of other heroes.

Happy Memorial Day, Dad. I still have the sword.