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Wars End

Writer's picture: glenhaneyglenhaney

A day to celebrate!  My two-year enlistment in The US Navy

expired on a Spring Day in San Francisco.  I was turned loose

in a world a-whirl with options galore.  Having spent two years

in The South Pacific, the 1700 miles from San Francisco to my

 

home in The Ozark Mountains of Arkansas seemed like a cake

walk! I tossed my Sea Bag over my shoulder, found my way

across The Bay Bridge, stuck out my thumb and hoped for the

best!  Within minutes I was given a ride, with 26 more to follow

 

before I entered the door to my parents’ ranch house. The war

had just ended and the world was awhirl with good will towards

the returning veterans. I made the trip home through stormy

 weather and lonely nights with the destination of home kindling

 

my spirits. My best ride was with an elderly couple who treated

me to dinner and overnight in a motel.  I had hated the war.  The

thought of killing someone was anathema to me. The trip home

was an enjoyable buffer from one world to the next.  One memory

 

of Kwajalein Island forever with me where I had come upon a

collection of skull and bones with a split toe shoe the definitive clue

as to the Japanese who he had once been there playing his noble role

in the organized killing that seemed to have lasted eons.

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1 Comment


winkgrelis
Aug 10, 2024

Thanks for sharing your memories and for your Service, Glen!

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©2021 by Glen Haney.

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