By Ralph Churchill
I graduated from West Point in 1970 and spent 26 years in the Army. I’ve led soldiers in battle, commanded an artillery battalion, and survived a couple of tours at the Pentagon. Throughout my career, I never lost my belief that our country is best served by our unique citizen-soldiers. But this story isn’t about me. It’s about five ordinary soldiers from the Greatest Generation—my dad and my four uncles. It is about 5 ordinary soldiers whose commitment to freedom and unselfish service reflect all those values we as Americans cherish.
With few battlefield heroics and never a word of regret or braggadocia for their service, these 5 soldiers, my father and my 4 uncles, make me proud to be an American.
All five of these patriots were from Aroostook County, way up in northern Maine. They were just young men in their teens and early 20s with high school educations. They were regular workers—a farmer, a welder, a house painter, a laborer, and a heavy equipment operator. They grew up during the Depression and didn’t have much.
My dad, Amos, volunteered right after Pearl Harbor but was rejected because of his poor eyesight. Somehow, his vision “miraculously” improved three months later when he was drafted! He served in the Anti-Aircraft Field Artillery in the Pacific, seeing action in the Solomons and the Philippines before coming home in 1946 as a Master Sergeant.
My uncle Barney was in the Army Air Corps for three years in the South Pacific. He was a crew chief for a P-38 fighter used for photo recon. Since the plane had no guns, he always joked that his biggest job was making sure it was the fastest thing in the air so it could run away from the enemy!
Uncle Lloyd was the youngest, joining the Navy in 1943 and serving on a destroyer in the Western Pacific. In a lucky twist of fate, my Dad and uncles Barney and Lloyd all landed back in San Francisco within 24 hours of each other in December 1945!
My uncle Bill was actually Canadian (it’s a long story) and served with the Canadian forces during the D-Day landings. He lost much of his hearing during the war—blaming the high-pitched whine of the German 88 guns—but he never wore hearing aids. He always told us he just enjoyed the quiet after all that noise!
Uncle Sam was a welder by trade, but was drafted into the Infantry. He rose to Platoon Sergeant and fought through Italy, France, and Germany until the very end.
When the war was over, they just went back to their lives. My dad returned to farming for a bit before being recalled for the Korean War and eventually retiring from the Army in the ’60s. Uncle Barney spent 30 years as an equipment operator in northern Maine. Uncle Lloyd worked for the water company for 40 years, and Uncle Bill moved to Connecticut to work as a painter. Uncle Sam came home, opened his own welding shop, and told me he had no desire to ever go anywhere else again!
I spent many hours with these veterans hunting, fishing, going to the horse tracks in Maine, and just enjoying family get-togethers. Looking back, it’s remarkable that I never once heard a single complaint about the years they spent away from home, the constant danger they faced, or the personal opportunities they missed out on while they were away. They didn’t see themselves as heroes and there was absolutely no bragging about what they did or endured. Their stories were usually about the funny things that happened in camp, and only occasionally would they quietly mention a buddy who didn’t make it back home.
They truly viewed their service as a privilege and a simple duty to their country, and I think we should all be deeply thankful for soldiers like them. My Dad and my uncles are all gone now, but their lives left a mark on me that I’ll never forget. As our country celebrates its 250th birthday, my hope is that we take a moment to remember the quiet sacrifices of ordinary men like them.
