Reading so many posts on Facebook about our Military Veterans and appreciation of those serving now, brought up so many memories of my father, Phillip A. Thomas. When I think of what this one man accomplished in his lifetime leaves me speechless. Not only did he leave the Korean War with a Purple Heart and many other accommodations, but in his civilian life he challenged all of his kids to pursue ALL dreams. He always told us to never give up or let anyone stand in our way of our dreams. Lately, I have been letting my own self doubt stop me from writing. Well, today I begin the “In Honor Of” blogs.

As I  begin, my first writing is about my father. He was a man who not only served his country, but passed the bar without ever taking a law class. He just studied and went to take the test which on his first try earned his credential to be a lawyer. Did he want to be a lawyer? No, he just wanted to see if he could pass the test. This amazing man spent a summer and built a log cabin with family and friends. They cut down the trees and built this cabin with just chain saws.  With his wildness accomplished, he set his sights on being a chef. No college for him, but started as a dishwasher. He watched and quickly learned every angle of cooking. He became a Sou chef which means he could run any station Gordan Ramsey could throw at him. With no training he took up the art of ice sculpting. His talent brought him into the realm of creating lay-outs of celebrities like Bill Cosby. In everything he did in his lifetime, he gave all with no excuses.

When I first became a teacher, I was hit with so much curriculum and a sea of faces needing me to give them information, but not killing their love of learning. I wanted a presenter to come in, but was not sure how to set it up. It was Veteran’s Day in 1997 when I thought about my dad coming in to talk to my kids about what the Korean War was really like. He showed up promptly in suit, tie, walking cane, and box of medals. I was not ready to hear the stories he told. He had never shared so much of the war with us as we grew up, so as tears streamed down my face I could feel how much the kids were moved. Even as I write these words, those memories make me feel very sentimental.

The medals he was showing my students were those that we ordered for him. He never told us that he had earned any medals. My sister read letters about it and we made the decision to surprise him. He didn’t want anything to do with those medals. They were placed in a drawer and forgotten. As he explained to my students,the medals were just a reminder of those who didn’t come home. He said it made him sad to look at them, but his story was important. He wanted the kids to understand what these medals really meant to a soldier.

He was eighteen when he was sent into battle in the Korean War. The story he told was so emotionally wrenching for me, but my kids just soaked it in and after had so many questions that I could not keep up. My dad told a story of a terrified young man with a group of twenty other scared boys. He was the oldest so he was the leader of the group. He was the only one in his platoon to return home alive. The enemy had surrounded this small group and three events changed the lives of all of them including their families.

Since they were surrounded, helicopters could only drop bags of food to them. He said they were all starving and he had lost over 20 pounds. They were elated when they saw a bag on the ground. They imagined what delicious cans they would be able to scarf down. To their amazement, the bag was full of Tootsie Roll candy. Logically, they could put handfuls in their pockets and lighter than canned food, but they were all disappointed. Surprisingly, they were able to get to a safe zone. It was coming on Thanksgiving, so they were finally going to have a feast. Canned turkey, watery gravy, canned cranberries, and boxed stuffing. He told my kids that under those circumstances that it was best Thanksgiving food he had ever tasted. He was so happy to have food that he volunteered to get out of the foxhole for the rest as they joked about him being a pig. It had been a long time that his troop had smiled and laughed together. As he went to refill plates, a large boom took him by surprise and knocked him to the ground. As he regained his senses, he looked at the foxhole where he just finished eating with his buddies. Everyone in the foxhole dead with him looking in horror with a paper plate still in his hand. He told the kids the guilt of being the one not in the foxhole was overwhelming. Those faces never leave the mind. My students were so silent and still a in dropping could be heard.

The last day my dad was in Korea left him with shrapnel in his back from a grenade and a cut from a spear that penetrated between his eye and nose. To set up the scene, the rest of his troop found themselves surrounded again. Unfortunately, they were in a wide ravine, so they were surrounded by the enemy from above. The bullets and grenades burst around him while he watched his comrades fall. The smell of thick powder and death all around him. He scrambled up an embankment, but found himself face to face with the enemy. He turned to run, but the grenade hit him in the lower back. The pain was excruciating and he felt himself falling forward into a pile of bodies. The bodies of his friends. He was hit but still alive. The enemy were poking the bodies with spears to make sure all were dead. My dad had to make a choice, so he plowed himself under the bodies of his comrades and lay as still as possible. The spear cut through the bodies above him. As the spear went into his eye, he could not flinch. He lay there not knowing time. When he thought all enemy solders had gone he pulled himself to the top of the ravine to land in the arms of a fellow soldier. He had been the only one found alive. He was sent back to the states to recover.

When he was given the Purple Medal of Honor he had no clue why he deserved it since he was the only one who survived. He felt he had not saved anyone. The adrenaline must have had been intense because from the time my dad pulled himself free of his friends and reached the top of the ravine he had taken out all enemy soldiers with his knife. The troop coming up to the ravine would have all been killed too because an ambush was awaiting them, but my dad put a stop to the trap. Many soldiers had been saved because of his actions. He told my students that he does not remember that event or how he could with a giant hole in his back for the grenade and a spear  cut in his eye.

After he finished my student stood, clapped, and shook his hand. Many thanked him for his service. Every year, they loved his presentation.  I learned so much about the man I already admired. Our military are the most humble people on earth. My dad never bragged about any of his time in the military. If it weren’t for asking him to come teach the next generation I don’t believe I would have ever heard these stories. As my dad has passed, I still think about him on a daily basis. But my best memory of him is when he stood tall and proud in my classroom, sharing his life with the next generation. I truly believe that they would never be the same as I know I have never looked at him the same nor do I look at our military the same.

My dad was a strong Christian man who taught me that belief in God can get me through anything. Listening to his stories and knowing the kind loving man he was ensures me that my beliefs are on the right track. May God reveal himself to you this season of appreciation.

God Bless dad, Bless our Vets, Bless our military, and God Bless our country,

Your daughter, Tanya DDF