(Editor’s Note: Today’s comment comes from a retired Certified Professional Accountant, who sold his practice in 1990. He formerly was the Ride Director of the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG), and retired from that position in June of 2015.He has been a resident of Lilburn for 31 years.)-eeb
By Jerry J. Colley | When in the hospital recovering from surgery, I read in an old Reader’s Digest that children do better in life when they know their family history. It started me thinking about my family history and how little I know about it.
Colley
I would love to know about my great and great-great grandfathers’ experiences serving in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. And my first hero was my Great Uncle Larry Wootan, who served in the U.S. Army during World War I. His memory was gone by the time I was old enough to appreciate what he had done.
The story that should really be told is that of my dad’s first cousin, Pvt. Frank Power, Jr., USMC, who is entombed in the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, a victim of the Japanese sneak attack on December 7, 1941.
Another story that needs to be told is that of Uncle Larry’s grandson, Sgt. Doc Caldwell, Jr., U.S. Army, a conscientious objector combat medic who was killed in action in Vietnam on May 13, 1968.
One of my regrets is that I never got all the details of my dad’s service in the Navy in Cuba and aboard the USS Reuben James prior to World War II. Fortunately, he was not on board when the Reuben James was sunk by a German submarine on October 31, 1941, just before our entry into World War II.
Colley when in the Army
Then it occurred to me that I have a story to tell. I served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam from November 1968 to November 1969. And I have lots of pictures that I took during that year. (My dad was a professional photographer and I was raised with a camera in my hand.)
So, after I got out of the hospital, I made a photo book of that year while I was in Vietnam. I made the book for my two grown sons, and maybe, just maybe, a grandchild or great grandchild of mine who may someday be interested in my experience during the war. I wish I had a book like that from my relatives in other wars.
Was I a war hero? No. I was a draftee, and a payroll clerk at U.S. Army Headquarters in Long Binh, as safe a place as could be found in Vietnam in 1968 – 1969. I did what I was told to do. No more. No less.
Robert E. Lee’s famous comment was, “Do Your Duty.” I hated every minute of my year in Vietnam. But, now I can proudly say that I did the duty that my country required of me and I did it to the best of my ability. A lot of my generation shirked that duty through various means.
I was not a hero, but I have an Honorable Discharge for “Honest and Faithful Service” to the United States Army. I am proud of my service to our great nation and proud to be a veteran of the U.S. Army. Hooah!
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Footnote: If any reader would like to see my book to get some ideas for a book of your own, please send your email address to me at braghq@aol.com. I used MyPublisher.com to make my book. I can only share the book’s website with individual email addresses. You will probably get promotional emails from MyPublisher.com once they know your email address.
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