Selected memories of Armed Forces Day
This memory was selected by Shot for posting from the "Comments" for Armed Forces Day. Please submit your comments for Armed Forces Day under Shot's original post - Armed Forces Day.
"My memories of this particular holiday go back to the house I lived in with my four brothers and little sister in San Diego. It was military housing so it was a small 3 bedroom house with a one car garage. After having BBQ in the back yard and missing our Dad because he was away on duty, my brothers would go into the garage and turn the one bicycle upside down to use the front wheel as a ship wheel and they would wear outfits like sailors pretending that they were at sea and the waves were so strong and big that they had to yell commands to each other to keep the ship on course. The only way I got to play with them was to be a nurse on the ship, I wasn't allowed to carry a rifle or steer the ship. If we were on the ship or in combat on land, I had a little bag with red cinnamon drops like tic tacs for pills. If you had a headache or a shot off arm you could always stay alive with a red tic tac. My brother Patrick had his life saved many times by those red tic tacs. Also I remember jumping off the roof of the house a few times, my mother wouldn't let me join in with my brothers after I did it a couple times, but it was fun when they thought they were jumping out of planes going over enemy territory because they would make their landings so dramatic and to the point of making all the noises of guns shooting at them and planes going over and bombs going off that for a kid you'd think you were there....at least I did. The smell of a ship always takes me back to special days like this going on my Dad's ship for a tour and all the other men on the ship saluting him in his uniform. I can never forget the shiny shoes he always wore. It's sad that after six months of not seeing him while he was away at sea, I'd go run to give him a big hug and he'd put his arms out to stop me so I wouldn't scuff up his shiny shoes. Damn shoes. I'll write more later." (Submitted by: C-Sista)
