I recently asked my dad to remind me of this incident from his life - it is a poignant story, and I wanted to share it here too:It was sometime in 1945 - the weather was warm. I was 9 years old. I was learning how to better ride a bicycle - I was crossing the Rim to Rim Bridge just outside Twin Falls, Idaho. The bridge is 500' high, maybe 1000' long. As I was riding along the bridge, trying not to get run over or topple over the edge, cars started honking. I wondered: are they honking because I am daring to ride across the bridge (brave, brave me)? No, I later found out (that day) that the honking was because, heard on the the car radios, was the news that World War II was finally over.
- Fred :)
8 comments:
A wonderful story, and a glorious memory. What must it have been like, to be alive and know that your country was part of something so heroic? Thanks for sharing.
I see that picture and NOW see both Miles' and Graham's eyes! Can you even fathom a small boy riding his bike across that bridge? Dad was 9 when the war ended so it would be like you letting Graham ride across the Snake River Canyon by himself. Yikes!
Keep the wonderful dad stories and memories coming!
That is a cool story. I am going to have to have Chris read this. Thanks for sharing.
I love this post, Erin. What a perfect story--great for posterity.
It was a hot and sunny late-August afternoon in La Grange, Texas, in 1945 when a 20-year-old friend knocked on the door and asked me to come along with him because he had just heard the war was over in Japan (VJ Day). I was seventen, just looking forward to my senior year in LGHS. Jack had been drafted by the military just after he graduated and had trained in the Army, then was sent to Europe. When the war ended in Europe (VE Day), Jack was released from a German prison camp and allowed to come home. Without conversation, not knowing our destination, we got in his car and he drove the few blocks to the local Methodist Church. We went in, the only ones there, and prayed for a while. He sadly remembered his friends who would not come home. I will never forget that moment in the quiet church with the setting sun streaming through the stained glass windows.
thanks Erin.
Thank you Gammy for sharing your story too. I love hearing about these important days!
I loved this story. Such a beautiful image. Thank you, Fred!
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