Freedom Is Never Free -- Veterans Day 2012

The Korean War Memorial in Washington D.C. is my personal favorite on the National Mall.

Today is Veteran's Day.  I'm ashamed to admit that I almost forgot.  Veteran's Day was originally called Armistice Day, which commemorated the cease fire that took place on 11-11-1919 at 11:00 a.m.

We are not the only country which honors those who have served--both living and dead.  In England, they commemorate the holiday having two minutes of silence at 11 a.m.  The first is to honor the soldiers who have fallen.  The second is to honor those who were left behind, including wives and families.

I never had to serve in the military.  But I have a father who did and both of my grandfathers served in World War II.  My Grandpa Hancock was a young sailor onboard an aircraft carrier in the Battle of Midway.  His ship was sunk by a kamikaze plane and he went overboard along with many of his friends and fellow crewmates.  While he waited to be rescued, he left the safety of his raft to rescue his fellow shipmates.  (See my blog post about that here.)

Grandpa Hancock never talked about that experience--at least with me.  To me that makes him even more of a hero.  He served and did his duty with a quiet duty, but didn't seek recognition or fame for his actions.  He was not alone among his fellow servicemen who served with the same selfless attitude.  There is a reason our grandparents are called "The Greatest Generation."

Green Jello

My other grandpa served in the Antarctic and Arctic regions before and during World War II.  His service came at a high personal cost.  It was cold and lonely.  They must have spent one winter eating nothing but green jello for dessert every meal because he had an otherwise inexplicable hatred for the stuff!  (And that's saying something about a man who was constantly trying to get me to eat Limburger cheese and telling me not to be "provincial" about what I eat.  There were other costs too.  Things he never told us about, but that I have come to understand as I've grown older.

His service, however, blessed both him and his posterity.  The things he brought back from his service were (and remain) things of wonder to me as a child: polar bear skin rugs; a stuffed penguin; a narwhal tusk; fur lined jackets (sorry PETA!); musk oxen horns.  I still love going to visit his house to this day and I am always excited to see what forgotten treasure I might find tucked into the corner of a long-forgotten closet.

So today I will remember and be thankful for my grandparents, my dad, and for the rest of our military (past and present) for their service and their sacrifice.

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Hancock!

Today was Grandpa Hancock's birthday.  He was either 100 years old or 99 years old, depending on which records you believe.  I personally believe he was 99 because when I was about 12 or 13, I went to the Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City with my Grandma Dyer and found Grandpa Hancock's baptismal record from the Snowflake, Arizona Stake.

The government always thought he was a year younger than he thought he was.  Because of that, they gave him a hard time when he applied for Social Security when he retired.  My understanding is that Grandpa Hancock ran away from home when he was a pretty young guy, so it makes sense that he might have gotten his birth year wrong.  Plus, I'm thinking that as a young man on his own, it was probably helpful to be able to tell people that he was a year older than he really was.

Grandpa Hancock was a pretty interesting guy. As a young man, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II. In February 1945, his ship--the Bismarck Sea--was an aircraft carrier that was attacked and sunk by Japanese kamikaze airplanes. Grandpa Hancock managed to make it to a life raft. Here is what the Navy's magazine "Our Navy" said about his heroic actions during that battle:

Nightmare off Iwo Jima

"Tall, rugged Lynn Young Hancock, Cox. [his rank of "Coxswain"], from Challis, Idaho, somehow climbed into a life raft. He was tired. But the water was filled with tired and weakened survivors. Some were going under. Exhausted himself, Hancock left the safety of his raft to save the lives of shipmate after shipmate. When he was pulled aboard a rescue ship, he was physically weakened and in a semi-conscious condition."

I didn't know this, but in the U.S. Navy, a coxswain basically has the authority over the boat to provide for the safety of the crew. Ever since I first read this story (Grandpa Hancock never told me about it himself), I have admired Grandpa Hancock for risking his life to help save his crewmates. War can be a very terrible thing, but sometimes those extreme circumstances can bring out the best and noble in us. I'm grateful to have an example of such actions like Grandpa Hancock in my life.  Grandpa Hancock, we miss you!

Today is Pioneer Day in Utah. I grew up in Southern California, but I do have a few memories of this holiday from when I was younger. I remember going to the rodeo in the old Salt Palace and I remember going to a few of the parades in downtown Salt Lake City.

I have a vague recollection of my dad running in the Des News Pioneer Day Marathon one year.  He bought his shoes the night before.  He said that running up hill wasn't too bad--but running downhill was just a killer. I thought about trying to run the Des News Marathon this year.  It's probably a good thing I didn't, but maybe next year!

I asked one of my friends at work to name the famous holiday that happened today in Utah. The two best guesses were: "Brigham Young Day" and "Salt Water Day."  As big as Pioneer Day is in Utah, I guess it's just not as well known outside the state--at least in Southern California!