Monday, May 27, 2024

Memorial Day


This is the story I posted on Instagram this morning....hope I get it all here as I cannot even find my own post.
John Henry Washington Newton Burt was the  man who raised me  

He was from rural Alabama, town of Greenville.
He lied about his age and joined the Air Force at age 16.  He had an 8th grade education.  The Air Force gave him the opportunity to get his GED and trained him to be an airplane mechanic.  He was an Air Force lifer until he got orders to go to Viet Nam....He retired then, as he had already served in the Korean War. My mother met John Henry when he was stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.  She was working on that base as well, in the OSI.  They married when I was 10.  It started our travel to Europe,  We lived in Chaumont, France for one year and in Lakenheath England for two.  Then  back to Luke Air Force Base as my mother loved Arizona.  I went to high school in Phoenix and undergraduate school at Arizona State..Once I worked for Pan Am, I took my parents to Greece and Italy.  John Henry stayed buckled in his seat the entire flight...Who would have  known that this  Air Force veteran was afraid of flying.  He loved my mother, so he traveled for her.
Today's Memorial Day celebration includes my father:
John Henry....a very good man!!!

 

1 comment:

Linda Swanekamp said...

Thank you for sharing the memory of a fine man who served his country and you.