Sunday, December 7, 2008

Plan Dog

Dad was in strangely quiet this morning. He drank his coffee and scratched us behind the ears. Then he said to us, "We must never forget."

We gave him our best you lost us Dad look.

In a low quiet voice that was almost a whisper he told us of a time before Dog Dad was a twinkle in Grand-Paw's eye. Back when Grand-Paw was a young man. The world was in upheaval. Europe and China were ablaze. The United States had watched but had not entered the war. On Sunday, December 7th 1941 everything changed. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Almost every American living then could tell you were they where. Grand-Paw remembers of that we are sure. He was a soldier during WW II and served in Europe.

Grand-Paw and pups circa 1942-43



Grand-Paw and a pup
Mojave Desert, Calif - 1942

Some saw the approaching storm and started making plans. In 1940 the Chief of Naval Operations wrote a memorandum that was given to President Roosevelt on 12 November 1940. That memorandum described four courses of action A through D. The recommendation was to go with option D. D stood for Dog in the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. The options were:
  • A - Defend the western hemisphere.
  • B - Go on the offensive in the Pacific against Japan while remaining on the defensive in the Atlantic.
  • C - Fight equally committed in both the Atlantic and Pacific.
  • D - Go on the offensive in the Atlantic (against Germany and Italy) while remaining on the defensive in the Pacific.
Our names have strong ties to WW II. Deacon came from Grand-Paw being the Chaplains assistant and driving around the front lines during the war. Grand-Paw and the Chaplain were even strafed by a Messerschmitt. They abandoned the jeep and scattered into the woods. When they got back there was a cannon hole between their seats. Dad's college roommate's aviator father served on the Essex during the Korean War, but the Essex was built and saw battle during WW II.

Dog Dad slowly took a sip of coffee. Faced west and saluted. We know Dog Dad won't forget.

Essex & Deacon

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

Lest we forget,

Josh and Jess

Arran, Arthur and Mum said...

My mum thinks it is good to remember our history, as that is how we stop things from being repeated. She hopes that people will always remember what others have done for them.
Thank you for sharing the story of your grandpaw.
~lickies, Ludo

STEVIEWONDER said...

GrandPaw sure was a young pup in those pictures!

Sunny,Scooter, (sometimes Jamie) said...

We too will never forget. Though our mom was also still but a gleam, our grandad was a kid in flight school. Back when it was the Army Air Corps.
Uncle Harry was older and in the USMC.
ATTENTION. slow salute to dogdad's dad. our moms dad and uncle, and all of the great generation..
We will never forget any of our proud American heritage. Mom says it isn't always easy to find another as patriotic as she is, but she thinks dog dad is!
Hugs
Sunny&Scooteps
If you go to a book store to the magazine section and get December AKC Gazette, they have a great article on the devil dogs and also feature GSD's used -well also the whole war dog program. Dog Dad will love it. Mom would scan it to you, but alas...doesn't know how. She is really pitiful.

Mack said...

Those were some great pictures.

Our gwandpa was an electrician in WWII.

Urban Smoothie Read said...

i watched the movie pearl habour with my mum b4...

ur grand-paw is a hero. u must be really proud of him