Honoring My Father on Veteran’s Day
My father died 11 years ago on Veteran’s Day. Of course, he would die on Veteran’s Day. His World War II service record was always an important part of his identity.
My father, Frank M. Brown as a young U.S. Navy midshipman
Enlisting at 17
Dad was in many ways a classic man of his generation. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17, lying about his age with his mother’s assistance, so he could serve his country as soon as he graduated from high school in 1943. Patriotism was at a fever pitch in the United States after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941.
S.S. Canada Victory, both dad and the ship were new to the Navy in the fall of 1943, photo courtesy of Wikipedia
He served on the S.S. Canada Victory that was ferrying explosives across the Pacific. One of the things I recently learned re-reading the book of WWII memories I created for Dad on his 85thbirthday was that my dear friend Janelle’s father, Kenneth John Brown, and my father, Frank M. Brown, participated in the battle of Iwo Jima from two different branches of the service. The battle began on June 15, 1944 and ended on Feb. 19, 1945 when the land invasion began. It was the first attack on the Japanese home islands. There was heavy fighting and casualties on both sides.
U.S. Marine John Kenneth Brown, photo courtesy of Janelle Brown
Dad was a Naval midshipman aboard the SS Canada Victory, a munitions carrier. His ship resupplied the battleships Missouri and Iowa. Both had run out of large 16-inch shells. After resupplying them, the battleships barraged the islands. Janelle’s father, a U.S. Marine who miraculously just celebrated his 101st birthday, was part of the landing crew that fought a terrible, but successful battle.
In early 1945 Dad was given orders to fly to New York for further training in operating new sophisticated equipment like lasers. On April 27, 1945 a Kamikaze pilot sank the SS Canada Victory in Okinawa. There were 43 casualties. (Dad never knew this until many decades later when his grandson Brian (my son), who loved all things WWII, shared this information with him.)
For years it has been important to me to fly the American flag on Veteran’s Day
I pause on this day to honor all veterans in all countries for their service. And I want to especially honor my father, Frank Brown.
Raising his family with traditional values
Like so many young men and women Dad fought to preserve democracy from the threat of authoritarian/fascist rule in the world. It was a turning point in his life. After the war, he got his engineering degree, married my mother, and went to work for George A. Hormel Meatpacking Company in Austin, Minnesota. He started off at the bottom rung in the engineering department as a draftsman.
Hormel Foods logo courtesy of Wikipedia
When I was born, my parents were poor. My crib was a dresser drawer in a small apartment. Then for the next 39 years my dad worked hard at his job, slowly advancing his career with Hormel until he retired as Vice President of Engineering.
From both mom and dad, we learned to volunteer time in our community. Dad served on the local YMCA and Methodist church boards for years. We learned that you work hard. You care about your neighbors and their children. Public school education is important. You demand honesty and kindness from your children. And you vote. You always vote.
As an engineer, dad could be a direct, demanding father. But he had four daughters and a kind, generous, musical wife. All of us softened him over the decades.
Hormel Corporate Headquarters in Austin, MN courtesy of Wikipedia
We grew up in a town with almost no diversity, except that our Methodist Church Epworth Hall is where the few Jewish families in our community met each week. But by the time he died at 87, Bumpa, as he was affectionately called by his many grandchildren, had a family with individuals that are mixed races, mixed marriages, lesbian and gay, and with disabilities.
He had to grow and expand his horizons over the years to accommodate these changes. The world changed around him from the black and white television view of the world of our youth to the current age of cell phones, social media sites, and many choices for news and information.
Although he thought computers and cell phones were amazing, he never transitioned to their use. He stayed steady with the PBS news hour, the Austin Daily Herald, and the Minneapolis Star and Tribune.
The importance of voting
He thought about the news because it was important to him to be an informed citizen. All his life he was mostly a fiscal Republican in his voting choices. But he studied issues and candidates. Integrity and honesty were important to him. He had risked his life to save his country from evil dictators and to him that meant you took the duty of voting seriously.
This I know beyond any doubt: Frank Brown would be horrified that a man who has been convicted of rape, business fraud, 31 felonies, twice impeached, under investigation for illegally holding top secret documents, and who started a riot rather than accept fair election results would be eligible to run for office. The fact that he was elected president again, unthinkable!
I will continue to care about our country— to do everything in my power to respect and support the values I was raised with. These will be a rough four years, but we will get through them because there are millions and millions of people who still abide by a code of decency, truth, and genuine care for their neighbors.
My whole family visiting the newly opened WWII museum in Washington, DC in 2008 Left to Right: Ann, Margaret, Kathy, Dad, Mom, Susie
We will get through and, I hope, emerge wiser. Thank you for sharing your love for your dad & his story & for flying that flag. Tend well . . .
Yes, Sherry, we will all tend to the best of our abilities. For a democracy needs us all to tend it. Ann
Thoughtful column Ann, thanks for including my dad
And thank you for sending his photo along! For him to survive Iwo Jima alone was half a miracle. And for him to live to 101+!!Well, your father is practically immortal!
Thank you, Ann. The five service members in my father’s family–all Republicans–are weeping. Everything they fought against, come to home soil. Everything they fought for, in jeopardy.
Thank you, Gretchen. I share your sentiments. Ann
Gretchen, your post is going to haunt me for a long, long time to come. I take this weeping into my heart and hold it with tenderness.
Thank you, Jana. For readers of this comment section Jana is referring to a comment on this post by Gretchen Staebler. An
What a touching and informative tribute to your father and all veterans Ann. I’m very touched reading this. You’ve inspired me to wish all of the veterans I know a Happy Veterans Day! Your father must have been so proud of the wonderful family he raised.
Thank you, Glenda. It was important for me to write this, to remember how truly fortunate I am. Yes, to honoring veterans! Ann
I love our Dad he was smart enough to not believe all the fake news and would definately vote for someone who wanted to keep America safe and strong! Ie our military
Thank you, Susie. Yup, writing this helped me remember our Dad and all he did for each of us.It was a tearful writing project. Love, Ann
Thank you so much for including me. I just returned home from breakfast for veterans today. I always sit there and think of the Austin boys who didn’t make it home, and those that are still with us and battling the demons created by agent orange. Best wishes.
Well spoken, Larry. A bow of respect to the veterans who did not make it home and for those who are here suffering. Blessings, Ann
Thank you for the lovely tribute to your father. Brings back memories of College Street.
Lovely to hear from on of my Austin buddies! Yes, College Street was a long time ago, but a wonderful beginning for all of us. Ann
Thank you, Ann, for sharing this heartfelt story of your WWII veteran, Dad, as well as all of the veterans that so much of your story represents. Like my Dad, Joseph J. Savage, and Robert’s, Edward J. Petrick, who both came back different for all that they witnessed. It so disturbs me, however, how obvious it is that today their sacrifices, their utmost loyalty to their/our country have been given a hard slap in the face. So many Americans’ vote of disloyalty to their service of preserving democracy, is so hard to witness.
I stand side by side with you in this pledge: “I will continue to care about our country— to do everything in my power to respect and support the values I was raised with.” I hope in time when I am not feeling so raw about our country that is so lost, to believe that “we will get through … because there are millions and millions of people who still abide by a code of decency, truth, and genuine care for their neighbors.” Thank you for your conviction. It bolsters me immensely.
You speak powerful, important words, Jeanne. Thank you. We will get through this because we must. Ann
A beautiful tribute to your father. Today, I think of all those who have served and sacrificed in so many battles for the freedoms and values that now hang on a knife’s edge. Incomprehensible to me that in saying yes to his platform, so many more insidious yes’s have also been said.
Beautifully articulate statement, Katharine.”In saying yes to his platform, so many more insidious yes’s have also been said.” And so we move forward, trusting that we will be able to figure things out. The “we” being all of us! For we are in this together—your country and mine, your ocean and mine, and on and on. Love and appreciation, Ann
Ann,
Thank you for this heartfelt tribute to our wonderful Dad. He taught us so much about working hard, standing up for what is right and always putting his love for Mom and his daughters and our family as his number one priority. Dad would not agree with a president who isn’t honest. He fought for freedom and democracy. May we all hold steady and remember all who have given so much for our great country. Let’s hold on to each other as we brace ourselves for these next 4 years and continue to work for these goals.
Love and peace dear sister,
Kathy
Wise words, my dear sister. Thank you for this heartfelt response. Yes, let’s lean into one another—both those we know and love and those we could learn to know and love. Big challenges ahead. Love, Ann