One of the messages I received last week over the Memorial Day holiday was the message you see below. It was from a hometown newspaper clipping one of my cousins found in his father’s belongings. It was written by a friend of my Uncle Pete and was, as he wrote the letter, serving in the European theater of World War 2. It brought home to me an uncle I never met but who loomed over all family gatherings where his brothers and sisters (those amazing aunts and uncles of my youth) lionized him as one of the best. He was killed in 1942 in one of the earliest battles of World War 2, a marine at Guadalcanal. He died more than ten years before I was born but I know he had a special place in the family and was closest to my dad in age. Finally, I was really struck by this photo of Uncle Pete. He carried so many of the family features I see in my cousins and my own children/grandchildren. Thank you for your service, Uncle Pete, I wish we could have met but we will keep your memory alive.
John McGrath, Jr. a Keene boy who is
serving in the armed forces of this country somewhere in Sicily, has written to
Waldo W. Buckminster in Keene relative to Norman "Pete" Parker, who
was killed in action earlier in the year. He also enclosed a poem he has
dedicated to "Pete." The letter is as follows: "A little more
than four months ago the editors of 'Life' magazine published a list of all
American soldiers, sailors and marines who have given their lives for their
country. This list also included men who are missing in action and not
officially listed as dead. Among those names was one that many Keene folks
knew. The name, Norman Parker, “Pete”, was that of a young boy in the prime of
his life when death came to him so swiftly but even then he placed his country
at the head of his list. I have known Pete' for many years, in school and out
of school and never have I found a person who can take his place. He was in
many ways a typical American boy and he proved this when he answered the call
of his country.
As usual all is well here with me. Life
here is pretty much the same as it was in North Africa. About the difference we
find is the weather and the people. Of course there are many minor differences
as one finds traveling from one state to another but these are not important.
The following is the poem written in
memory of Norman Parker which was enclosed in the letter:
"PETE" PARKER
He may not ever have a tomb, a monument
or marker
But never can the curse of war erase the
name of Parker;
"Pete" gave his best for Uncle
Sam when fighting was terrific
And died the death of heroes, in the
far-off South Pacific.
We cannot know why men like
"Pete" are so abruptly taken
And faithful parents must survive in
grief so cruelly shaken;
We only ask without reply,
"why
has this life so ended?"
"What was the reason somber death
on him so descended?"
We do not know we never can, for death
like fatal cancer
Just leaves behind a lasting grief and
never gives an answer;
But this we know that though we grieve
no endless death can sever
The fame connected with "Pete's
name, 'twill simply live forever
One movie fell in my A-Z watch, a keepers,
Doctor Zhivago, a true epic in every sense of the word, Julie Christie, Wow!
RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends
of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the
Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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