Over the years I have seen Grandma bring out little boxes that she has stowed items in. The insignia’s Grandpa wore on his service uniforms Dad brought them home from the house today. Everyone knows my interest in these things, but Dad is also showing his want for us to keep them in the family.
This is just the most recent event.
A few weeks ago Dad was excited to find something else hidden in Grandpa’s back door closet.
Each time a batch of Grandpa’s service time items are found is emotional for me. Today I have seen these medals before and the insignia cutouts. I just didn’t remember how many of the cutouts there were and I don’t remember the paperwork underneath being in this box with them.
Sometimes I wish I could better plan my articles. Yet God’s timing is perfect. I like to have Veterans stories all throughout the year to remind us of what our Veterans mean to us every day. It shouldn’t just be May, July and November to celebrate them. I would have liked to hold on to this until November, but with this batch of stuff Dad brought home with him I just couldn’t.
Dad and I had a day where history came to life once more for both of us. Back in March those letters were amazing to have and read. I go through each letter several times and I research the names, places and anything that can be looked over. Something stuck in my mind and I meant to ask Grandma about it, but I always forgot.
Dad and Mom while I was not feeling well went to Grandma’s house. Dad spent time in Grandpa’s closet and went through it until he found something he never knew about. Something I had only just read about and took note about, but didn’t think to ask the one person who would know.
I don’t think I had seen Dad so excited about a find since the letters were found. Not only did Dad find Papaw’s Army issued knife, he found the trench knife that Papaw mentioned to Grandma. He had casually mentioned he might send it home to her. Yet in all these months I forgot to ask her what happened with that knife. This knife is mentioned in one of Grandpa’s three pagers while he was still in training stateside. The mailing information on the envelope says Shreveport, La. This was when he was training in the area of the Sabine River in Texas and Louisiana.
Another little tidbit about this is that Grandpa found this knife while training in the exact training area when he was stationed at Camp Polk. In 1941, “The Big One” was advanced training introduced by General George C. Marshall to prepare our American soldiers for war. There’s no way of knowing but what if this knife could have been from that first training lost by one of the soldiers? Or of course lost in some other way. Isn’t it an interesting thought though?
Telling this story still gives me goosebumps. Even as I told Aunt Irene Sunday night. I mean Dad didn’t know to look for it and I didn’t mention it to Grandma. Those words were written back late in 1943.
Jewells of Thought 
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