This Memorial Day Miss Ginger would like to take a moment to remember a very special serviceman, her Daddy Ginger, Frank Burch. Growing up, I was one of the few kids in school whose Daddy had served in WWII- most of the other kids' fathers were much younger and served in Korea. But Daddy G served his stint overseas during the big war, most of the time stationed in Shanghai, India, and I think Burma, which is now Mayanmar. Dad wasn't necessarily the most decorated soldier, or the most battle scarred, but he did serve his country's Air Force with pride as a payroll sargeant, and saw enough of what was going on to tell some pretty interesting stories to the housefull of boys that were his kids!
Give Daddy a couple of martinis and get him started and he could go all night! He told of the time he thought he'd get out of going on a 50 mile hike by holding the thermometer up to a lightbulb. The doctor told him he HAD to go on the hike because with a temperature of 140 degrees he could keep the other soldiers warm at night! In India, they lived in tents, and he and his tentmates kept a pet mongoose to keep the COBRAS out of the tent! Eek!
Wartime was rough, but based on the picture above, I take it there was plenty of time to visit the officers club for some heavy duty drinking! And no wise cracks about the chummy hand placement- that's my Daddy you're talking about!
As I was hunting for the Air Force pics I came across another old pic that I wanted to share, of Daddy with his 1st or 2nd grade class.
Dad's the one front and center looking like a Howdy Doody version of my brother Mark at the same age. And doesn't the teacher look like Miss Hannigan from "Annie"!? I remember looking at this picture with Daddy and saying "I can't believe some of those kids' mothers let them go to school with no shoes on!" and Daddy would say "Gorgeous Georgeous (that's what he called me!) it was the depression! Those kids didn't have shoes!" That always kinda hit home for me, and when I think of the depression I always think how strange it would be to me to be sitting in school next to a dirty kid with no shoes!
Anyho, I love you and miss you, Franchie (that's what we called him!) God bless you!
