MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE: A Military Man

 

memorial day

 

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. It’s a time when people all over the globe remember those who have served on the field of battle. I am considered one of the lucky ones to have grown up with a father around. But my own father, Bernis Joseph Lavergne, isn’t around today to personally thank him for his past service so I thought you, my lovely readers, would be kind enough to indulge me this little spotlight on a military man of my own.



 
 
 
My father (on the right) was born in 1928 and by 1950 he was a young man serving in the Air Force as part of the military police division. While he never served his country overseas during the Korean War, he did manage to offer up his two front teeth in a home front battle. He caught a beer bottle with his mouth one night while trying to stop a bar fight. My father adapted to the changes a military life provided, but I’m not sure he was prepared for the pretty little thing who crossed his path during those war years.
 
 
 
 
 
Ferol Emma Ownby was four years older and came from sturdy Arkansas stock. While my father had only one sister, my mother came from a much larger family of siblings. My father met his match in her and they were together for more than thirty years until her death when I was twenty-one. She embraced the military life until my father left the Air Force. They moved back to his hometown in the swamps of Louisiana where he lived until his death when I turned twenty-four.
 
My father was a military man even though he was never chosen to pay the ultimate sacrifice for his country. When he died, I was put in charge of his estate and I thought it fitting he receive a 21-gun salute at his funeral. There is nothing so haunting as the echo of a military farewell to a fallen soldier, whether from the ravages of battle or the end of a long life. It will be a memory I will take with me to my own grave. Besides a heartfelt thank you for service to his country, there is only one other thing I can think of to say to my father…
 
Good bye, Daddy. I hope you are at peace now. 
donna
International best selling, award winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, My Journey, My Journal, is scheduled to be released by Expert Insights Publishing in the Fall 2018.

Donna L

Hybrid award winning author; aspiring sketch artist; and 4th Degree Senior Certified Taekwondo Instructor. Host of BOOK NOOK REVIEWS. Member of SCBWI. Mom to fabulous son and adventurer delving into the tricky world of indie-publishing.

4 thoughts on “MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE: A Military Man

  • May 28, 2018 at 8:15 pm
    Permalink

    I was calm and proud during the 21 gun salute. I was given the blank shells from the service. But when the Bugler started playing Taps, I lost it completely. Even the priest was in tears.

    Reply
  • May 29, 2018 at 2:32 pm
    Permalink

    I have to ask: did your father get the Purple Heart for having his teeth knocked out? I mean, he was injured in the line of duty, he certainly earned it.

    All kidding aside, I wish I could thank your father personally for his service. He was willing to do whatever they asked of him and go wherever they told him. And thank you and your mother for standing by him. In a very real way, you were on actiive duty with him.

    Reply
    • May 29, 2018 at 8:38 pm
      Permalink

      Hi John and welcome to my blog! I think my father would have chuckled at the Purple Heart remark. I use to think it was the coolest thing when he would take his false teeth out when I was much younger and would sit on his knee…;-)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *