Mission...completed

I completed another PGR mission today. It may have been the coolest thing I've ever done. This one was special in lots of ways. PFC Joseph Terrell was killed in action in Korea, November of 1950. His body was returned to the US in 1993, I believe, and he was identified in March of this year. He came home to Dallas on Tuesday, and was laid to rest today. He had been gone for 60+ years. His ID was made thru a DNA match to his 89 year old cousin. That alone makes it special. But let's add in this...my uncle, Charles Miles, was killed in combat in Korea, September of 1950.

My mother's brother was only 19 when he was killed. Mom says that he had enlisted when he was 18, and had gone to Georgia for basic training. While in Georgia, he met and married a woman, and had a child. I don't know if he ever saw his son. Mom says that he was in Korea for only about a week before he was killed. He wrote several letters home, even though he was not there long. Mom says one of his letters said that when his unit shipped out, he and a friend overslept or something, and they ended up arriving at the front after the others. Charles was sent directly to the front lines, and was dead within a few days. He was brought home to Oklahoma, and Mom said that there was lots of support from the Army during the entire time.

Both of these men gave up their lives long before I was ever thought of. The decided to serve their country, to put themselves in harm's way for all of us...past and present generations. Little enough I can do is to try and honor their sacrifice with a little time out of my schedule to recognize what they gave up, and to provide a little support for their families. I wasn't there for Uncle Charles' funeral, but I was there for Joseph Terrell's. I was there not only to honor Joseph, but to also honor Charles.

Today, I got the elusive two-for-one...