Here’s to you, Dad!
by Cookster on May.25, 2009, under Blog Shorts, Non-fiction, Stories
As this is Memorial Day, I wanted to write a tribute to my Dad because he passed away three weeks before I was born and I never got to know him.
James Marion Winter was in the Army during World War II and the Korean War. The only stories I have of him were through my mother and I’m sure her memories became sweeter with time, painting him bigger than life for me. I know he was a captain and at one point used to run cable lines ahead of the troops for communication purposes. There was a time during WWII that he was doing his job high above the ground when a mortar shell exploded nearby knocking him down. He managed to live through that but sustained injuries from vertebrate crammed into his brain. He either had a benign tumor already or developed one from his injuries. He lived for years until the headaches became so severe that doctors at Fort Simmons Army Hospital in Colorado decided to operate. Unfortunately, the doctors in 1953 did not have the skills and resources for delicate brain surgery like they do today. My mother was nearly nine months pregnant with me and had an eighteen month old child back in Arizona. It did not surprise me that she wanted to keep his memory alive as her knight in shining armor.
I had no real emotional connection with my Dad until Saving Private Ryan came out. The opening scene took place at a military cemetery. My thoughts were flooded by a similar memory of my sister and I in our twenties roaming the cemetery in Denver looking for my Dad’s grave. From that moment in the movie, I began to cry. Tom Hank’s character became the image of my Dad and the tears were non-stop as I held my son, Shaun’s hand, through the entire movie. I found the emotional connection with my Dad that day as I literally sobbed for another two hours when I got home. I have never been able to see Saving Private Ryan again.
The horrors of war take a toll on everyone. Please be grateful for all of the men and women who serve this country so we can live the lives we have. Savor your memories of those who have fallen and never forget that they did this out of love for this country and their families.
May 25th, 2009 on 4:08 pm
Diane,
This is a tender and sweet tribute to a fallen hero; your hero, your dad.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
David
May 26th, 2009 on 5:39 pm
I appreciate your comment. I have since connected with my Dad in other ways and know that he is with me now, as he has always been.
June 1st, 2009 on 8:19 pm
How moving and how wonderful to have found that connection when you least expected it. I’m moved by your words.
Hug,
Sarah
June 1st, 2009 on 8:23 pm
I wasn’t expecting my reaction to the movie for sure! It was a pretty surreal experience.