A story for Veterans Day/Armistice Day
Both of my grandfathers served in the Pacific theater during World War II. This particular story concerns my maternal grandfather, who died the day after his 95th birthday in 2008. He almost never talked about his war experience, but one of the few stories that he would tell was the lizard story.
He and an unspecified number of other soldiers were supposed to swim to the shore of an occupied island and lie low on the beach until a certain time or signal. After reaching the beach, he realized that he was lying next to a HUGE FLIPPING LIZARD. He couldn’t do anything to chase it away or even react to it, so he just laid there until it left.
When my family found his discharge papers after his death, we were surprised to learn that he had been awarded the Bronze Star, because he never once mentioned it. In the absence of any other information regarding his award, I like to think that he won it for keeping it together in the face of a HUGE FLIPPING LIZARD. My grandfather was definitely a true hero. ❤️
↔: https://shannonsequitur.dreamwidth.org/258205.html
He and an unspecified number of other soldiers were supposed to swim to the shore of an occupied island and lie low on the beach until a certain time or signal. After reaching the beach, he realized that he was lying next to a HUGE FLIPPING LIZARD. He couldn’t do anything to chase it away or even react to it, so he just laid there until it left.
When my family found his discharge papers after his death, we were surprised to learn that he had been awarded the Bronze Star, because he never once mentioned it. In the absence of any other information regarding his award, I like to think that he won it for keeping it together in the face of a HUGE FLIPPING LIZARD. My grandfather was definitely a true hero. ❤️
↔: https://shannonsequitur.dreamwidth.org/258205.html