Today, for veterans day I want to honor this man, my grandfather Orville Dale Stuard. I owe this man so much. He has been a father to me when his son utterly failed in that role; and, because of how my biological dad disowned me a couple of months ago, I can truly say that he is the only father I have in my life. He is responsible for the person I am today and I have used his example for how I choose to behave, comport myself, and conduct my affairs as a man of virtue. He is responsible for how I express my masculinity, for my devotion to my core values and for how I always strive to live my life compassionately. Hes even responsible for my fashion sense and membership in a particular sub-culture; I am a diesel punk because this man practically raised me. When I don my jeans, jean shirt, leather vest, flat cap, and my goggles, or dress to the nines in my grey pinstripe suit, silk tie, and grey fedora, I am honoring this man in my own way. Gramps, what follows is my personal message to you. Even though you may never read this, I want to express my boundless love and respect for you and I want you to know that even though your son has completely rejected me, I will never stop loving you. You are and always have been my hero. I cannot imagine how much you suffered when your plane was shot down over Mannheim on 8/26/44 and you spent all those months marching all across Germany subsisting only on field potatoes and slacking your thirst with ditch water. Or when you took turns supporting the weight of your comrade in arms who couldnt walk, saving him from being eaten alive by the wild dogs that followed your camp. Or when you witnessed exhausted men who were dying of thirst drown in a brook or steam because they collapsed while trying to take a drink and were incapable of picking themselves up again. Or when at the time of your liberation you weighed less than 100lbs and were ill with hepatitis that you acquired from literally starving to death. Despite all of this, however, when you came home, incredibly you built an amazing life and accomplished many great things...just like a true soldier and a true hero would. And grandpa, I want you to know when you reach your final destination and cross into that undiscovered country, that as long my heart beats in my chest and as long as I draw breath, I will forever honor your memory and carry on your legacy with me wherever I may go, for this..this is what forever means.. So, I will: Walk this ground forever and stand guard against your name. I will give all I can offer, I will shoulder all the blame. I am sentry to you now, all your hopes and all your dreams. I will hold you to the light, yes....thats what forever means. youtu.be/8RK9cYs4ov0 generationson-line/december-2013--january-20… whatsnewlaporte/…/six-plus-decades-later-ww…/ whatsnewlaporte/…/former-wwii-prisoner-spea…/
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:01:20 +0000
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