The view of war from my 70'th year

Texas A&I with snow
Kingsville NAAS South Field
As I approach my 70th birthday I am amazed at how fast time has flown. It is clear in my memory the day that the guy on the radio outside Lone Wolf, Oklahoma said that Japan had surrendered. The grown ups were so happy and I remember a short time later watching my uncle Tommy Costner in his uniform with his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder coming up the road home from the war. I remember the cute little blonde girl who was the wheat farmer's daughter that my people sharecropped for and the good times in the hay barn. I remember the German prisoners from Granite Reformatory picking cotton in the field outside my bedroom window and the guards on horses with big rifles watching them. The Korean war took another uncle to the Pacific islands and his wife sent him a dear john letter while he was away. I heard tell she collected his allotment checks right up to the month he came back. Finally I came of age and went to war myself ending up an Air Traffic Controller
The wings I proudly wore
on Midway Island at the Naval Air Base.
Midway 1500 miles from everywhere

I saw the graves of Japanese Marines that came aboard on Midway during the WWII Battle of Midway and the bullet scars in the hangers from the battle. I watched an Atomic bomb blast on that same island my uncle had served on from the beach on Midway with special dark glasses at 2 AM in the morning and the world lit up brighter than day. It sent chills down my spine. I watch Bob Hope make jokes from the cargo plane door and saw a U2 landing on Midway that could have been Gary Powers. I met first ever seen black pilot and flight planned his flight back to California for him. I came home thru San Francisco attended Texas A&M at Kingsville, Texas and worked for the King Ranch at their radio station in town. Before Midway while stationed at Kingsville NAAS I cleared President Kennedy's plane for landing to go on a hunting trip with Dick Kleburg. During college there a while later with my wife in college at noon break watched Kennedy shot to death live in Dallas on our first color tv. Some old timers on campous said he was going to expose the shadow government that controls the Federal Reserve and the money supply in the USA. That was Johnson territory and stories abounded about how sorry a human he was. He was a sorry President to.


I was out of the Navy before Vietnam and my oldest son served 6 years in the 45th Infantry Division...the 3 generation to serve with the Thunderbirds. My grandsons are 17 and 10 and perhaps we will be called upon to help defend our country again. True I served in the peace time war and they may be called to service in active war but it all important. I did recieve one dear john letter of my own during my service. She and I are still friends and fellow members of the Society of Oklahoma Poets.
I firmly believe that if it were not for our warrior attitude and the fact that our citizenry is heavily armed with ample ammunition our enemies would have invaded these fruited plains long ago. Today we have an influx of those who care more for their originating homeland than they do for the United States and we must be on our guard to protect our women and children. In advance I know some will question my assumption that men will do the protecting but for the most part that is the case. Young men die to protect their country and tribe in history and that has not changed. God bless America and her freedoms and God bless those who fight to keep us free and God bless those who back up the defenders. Remember the Blood shed for your freedom!
WV2