Yesterday I finally had an opportunity to display my Grandfather's artifacts on board a Navy vessel that served in the battle of Leyte Gulf. Not just any ship, the Admiral's flagship.
In the Captain's stateroom aboard the Battleship New Jersey, in Grandma's birth city of Camden, across the river from the Philadelphia Navy yard where he enlisted in 1942. In a way, I brought him home. There is no better place to tell a story than to go back to where it all started.
Grandpa has been gone for 31 years.
We lost our family hero a long time ago and I was very young when it happened, but the military honor ceremony at his burial left such an impression on me it changed my life. Ever since I was a kid I've always liked to talk about him as if he never left. As long as I recreate history, his memory is kept alive and that legacy is here to stay. I have worked tirelessly to make him proud, in everything I do.
All of it was made possible because I met the museum curator at the Fort Miles event over a year ago. This is why I go to so many events and try to make as many connections as I can, you never know where it's are going to lead. Sometimes it takes months or years for an opportunity to develop.
Most WWII history events are all about the Army, Marines & Air Force, the Navy rarely gets any attention. But here I had a captive audience. The genuine interest of the public, from families and docents and veterans-even teenagers- made it all worthwhile, many website cards were taken and QR codes scanned. I don't think I ever worked so hard or so long to prepare for an event in advance.
This particular journey started in 2012 when the family was cleaning out the house and I brought everything home. One day when I have passed on, I hope the collection will find a forever home in a permanent museum.
