We Salute You

      He was never much of a talker. A WWII generation guy to the core, he preferred to let his actions speak for themselves. And as for his wartime experiences, he almost never spoke of them. Perhaps a brief mention of a name or a place in passing, never more than that. At the first hint of a question about them, he’d clam up tight. And sometimes, he’d just go all quiet. I learned early on that there were places he went then that I couldn’t follow. The best thing was to just stay close and wait for him to come back. He always did.

         I think now that his war, fighting the Japanese in the jungles of New Guinea and the Philippines, must have been terrible. But his war didn’t end on VJ Day. He brought it home and it took years for him to win it. Victory in that war came the only way can ever come in the silent battles for a person’s soul. It came from love - his love for God and his love for Wyoming. It came from his love for trout fishing and elk hunting and the peace he found on the river and in the backcountry. It came from his love for my mom and me.
        For all those veterans out there, from all of us here at 3EM, thanks for your service. We’re able to do what we do because you did what you did. This day and every day, we salute you.

-Grandpa