November Thankful #11

In honor of Thanksgiving, I'm doing daily thankful posts. I'd love it if you'd join me by commenting here or on MichiGal's Facebook page.

November 11

                                          

Today I am thankful for my family members who have served our country in the military.

My cousin Kimberly posted this picture

< ----------------------------------------

of my grandma's brother James on Facebook today. James died on November 10, 1946 at age 19, while serving as a guard at the Nuremberg Trials during World War II. He grew up in the same town I live in right now,and he was looking forward to coming home to see a certain special girl. He was just a baby, and he died while serving our country. My grandma would tell me stories about being in high school during the war, and that there was only ONE boy in her graduating class because the rest dropped out of school to enlist. (It was a small school, but still!). The one who didn't, by the way, was going into the seminary after graduation. The girls were all members of the Red Cross and spent their free time sewing bandages for soldiers.

Others in my family who served, and I'm sure I'll miss some:

• Both of Chris's grandfathers, Stanley and Joe
• Chris's dad, Bob
• Chris's brother, Rob
• Both of my grandfathers, Robert and Emil
• My grandmother's other brothers, Elmer and George
• My grandpa's brother, Charles
• My uncles: James, Herb, and Ken
• My cousin's dad, Mike
• My cousin, Emily

Some of these people are still with us, and some are not. But I'm thankful to all of them for bravely putting their lives in danger to defend all of us. 

If anyone in my family reads this and notices anyone who I missed, please let me know.