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Veterans Day a time to thank armed forces
November 11, 2009 10:03 AM
am writing this letter for my father, Donald R. Elsass, who served in the Armed Forces during World War II. I spoke with Dad, and he wanted to share the following. Italy. The latter part of the war was spent in and around France.
Dad will be 86 years old on Dec. 19. He resides in Sidney. He married Violet Holtkamp during the war. Violet died April 1, 2008. They were married on Nov. 11, 1943. They celebrated 64 years of marriage.
I asked him if he had any photos of the war and he replied, “only on and around the ship.” He has never really spoken about his experiences to his family with the exception of some minor stories and experiences about his time spent in World War II.
Q: What are some of the lessons we learned from World War II ?
A: “I am not quite sure we learned anything at all. There are sacrifices made by many families and unfortunately there are many sacrifices being made by military men and their families today.”
Q: What does Veterans Day mean to you?
A: “It has a double meaning to me. It is the day that I was married and it is a day that should be spent praying and thanking all the branches of our armed forces for protecting our freedoms and our families.”
I am extremely proud of my father serving in the military and on the USS Arcadia. He really doesn’t talk much about his experiences during the war but there is one story he has shared with us on many occasions. He tells us the story of one dark night of his hospital ship pulling four U.S. soldiers out of the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Their tanker was attacked and was sinking and they had been floating in the Atlantic Ocean for quite some time.
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