Veterans Day

For Veterans Day, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all who have served.

I would especially like to thank my family members, starting with my grandfather, Edward Thoma. When the Great War (World War I) broke out, he disappeared at 15 years old. His parents saw him in a newsreel at the theater and contacted the Army, which sent him back home. He joined again, this time legally, when he turned 18. He ended up serving in Army Artillery in Europe. When World War 2 broke out, he was too old to be sent overseas, so he became a guard at a POW camp here in the States since he was fluent in German. He guarded German pilots who, by the way, were glad to be out of the war. He became pretty good friends with the German POWs and spent a lot of time playing cards with them. When I was about 6 years old, I asked my grand-father what he learned in the wars, he replied that he learned how to cuss. Apparently, one time, an artillery gun hit his leg on recoil. All who knew him confirm that he did cuss a lot. I don’t recall ever hearing him cuss.

My father-in-law joined the Army in WW2 and served with the First Cavalry in the South Pacific. I spent a lot of time talking with him about his experiences in Australia, the Philippines, and Japan, as well as numerous islands in between. His takeaway from fighting firsthand is that war can turn common people into animals. I am glad he came back to being a common person, but I know he had a lot of nightmares about his experience.

This picture was taken right after boot camp. The notation on it says:

Woods (Army), Vernon (Navy), and I (Army), 28 February 1943.

My Uncle James was a B-25 pilot in the South Pacific in WW2. I did not talk with him very much about his experience, but I know he was glad to get home from the war.

My Dad was an Air Force Officer who did not see any action, and thankfully so, since he was a Special Weapons Officer for the Strategic Air Command. That is another way of saying that he was responsible for nuclear weapons on B52s. He then served as an Avionics Engineer at Edwards Air Force Base, where I was born. He worked with many experimental aircraft, but mostly with the X-15s. Some of the pilots he worked with were Scott Crossfield and Neil Armstrong. He was transferred to NASA in Houston in 1963, where we have been since. Dad recently retired from Boeing.

My brother-in-law, Colonel Mark Jones, Army retired, was an Attack Helicopter Pilot and served in many conflicts, including Desert Storm, Mogadishu, and many other places. He flew with the best of the best in the 160th.

My Nephew, Sam, served in the Air Force and did a lot of work at Vandenberg AFB and Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Sam retired from the Air Force and joined the Army. He is serving in Psyc Ops with the 82nd Airborne.

To all who have served, my utmost respect and gratitude!