Veterans Day, observed on Nov. 11 each year, is a day for remembering and honoring all veterans who served and continue to serve in the United States military. It’s a special day where I also like to remember those in my own family that have served this country. I’m eternally grateful for their service, on this day and everyday, and I relish any time to honor them and the sacrifices they’ve made.
My late uncle Chicky made a beautiful photo album/scrap book titled “what a wonderful life” for my mother and aunt so many years ago documenting everything he could find of our family history. The book includes photos that date as far back as the early 1900s. Luckily, some of those photos saved are from when my grandpa Louis served in the Navy during World War II and when my uncle served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. My uncle created the book before my brother, Kawika, enlisted in the Army — He served in the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery and was deployed to Iraq several years later.
The moments saved in these photos are proud ones. My grandpa has a lot of precious photos — one is a platoon training picture from Naval boot camp, another is of him in good spirits with his buddies on leave somewhere in the south Pacific. I especially love looking at one photo of him with his shipmates aboard ship during World War II — always smiling wide with friends by his side.
