It is inevitable to start sorting through my Dad’s belongings. My sister and I began doing this when we realized that it is our responsibility and it cannot be avoided. It is a very complex task with many gray areas. It is very sad and emotionally taxing.
As with most things there is an opposite side. And that is when we come across something of significance. My Dad was a collector. He spent many years frequenting yard sales and buying out peoples tool collections. So there is a vast amount of objects that he had no connection to other than he just liked them. The objects he didn't like so much ended up in his yard. He is a real Yankee.
Among boxes and stacks of stuff we came across his dog tags. He was in Korea in 1954. He is very proud of his stint in the U.S. Army. He didn’t have to confront the North Koreans as he was there toward the end of the war. He told me his unit was on high alert most of the time. He told me also that it was freezing cold and that if you left your face out of your sleeping bag at night (he slept on the ground) the rats would try to eat your nose. Some hikes were 30 miles on snow packed roads.
Along with other horrors they were often required to drink water from streams from which they could see fecal matter, although they treated it with “tablets.” This made enough of an impression on him that he told me many times during my youth and was a huge deterrent, among others, for me to consider a future in the military.
My Dad now remembers very few things, his name, his children’s name and his U.S. Army serial number. He can recite it on a moments notice. I never really new if he was right, I haven't seen his dog tags since I was a kid. Now that we have found them I too have remembered his serial number and can recite it to him.
At his stage of Alzheimer’s it is amazing to me that of all things he can still remember this. Occasionally he will ask about his truck or if I could take him somewhere. But I don't think he knows there are places to be taken because when I ask where he is quiet, without answer. I find him mostly asleep when I visit now. Head leaned over but always easy to awaken with a nudge.
