This one’s for you, pops.  Just a quick post from my heart on a special day of remembrance.  Wanted you to know that today, just like every other Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Flag Day, I made sure to stop and chat with Harry, the wheelchair-bound disabled vet that parks himself outside my grocery store on each of those days to sell those ‘Buddy Poppies’ for the local VFW.  In honor of you, I always drop in whatever cash I have in my wallet, and then we chat a bit as he thanks me and hands over the red poppy.  I’ve gathered quite a bouquet of them since you’ve been gone, and if you were still here, you’d find them scattered all over the house in the darndest  little places that make me think of you.  In return before I leave Harry, I make sure to thank him for his service to our country.  He always wants to talk longer than I’m comfortable staying, mostly because my eyes are welling up as I stand there while I look at the medals on his service cap and hear those patriotic songs coming from his boom box.  So I move on and do my business, but I never forget about Harry.  Or you.

So, this one’s for you, pops and all the service men and women who continue to protect our country from the bad guys.  May God Bless you all REAL GOOD.

Captain Donald C. Matthews

August 19, 1921-September 25, 2005

United States Army Air Force – World War II

Led Raids on Polesti Oil Fields – Two Distinguished Flying Crosses

“Richer than me you will never be, for I had a father that took time for me.”