In Honor of the Best Veteran I Know

Today is Memorial Day and there is one veteran that I want to talk about.

He is my dad.

My dad was in the Navy. I know he gets a little annoyed and embarrassed when he is referred to as a veteran, but he went through a ton of stuff while in the navy. He may not have fought in a war, but he is as much a veteran as a lot of other people. Hell, he is more so a veteran than me or any other schmo who did not serve in any branch of the military. I am very anti war, anti any use of violence to get what you want, but I feel like I became that way because of my father. He never really talks about his time in the navy, or when he does, it is a hilarious story that I enjoy more and more every time I hear them. But my dad is a liberal, or has liberal leanings, even if he will never admit it. He listens to Bob Dylan, he was in a rock/psychedelic band in the 60's, he has many thoughts and feelings about politics and he is just an overall great person. He instilled that in all of us, me and my three brothers that is. I have always wondered why he never really goes into great detail about his time in the navy, but maybe he never did because he didn't want that for me and my brothers. I feel like he joined the navy because it was a way to go to college and to make money. I think he wanted better for us, as all parents do. So he never pushed us. He never told us about how "great" the military could be. He never talked about why we should join and what we could get out of it if we did. I have always appreciated that.

In fact, both my parents let us pave our own path in life. They let us be free thinkers as kids. That is why we are the way we are today, and that is awesome. Me and my three brothers, we all lean liberal. I feel like I am a near progressive democrat, my oldest brother is pretty liberal, my brother closest in age to me is liberal and RD, he is a liberal, no matter how much he will deny it. But our parents also let us question things and talked to us about these things if asked. I do know some of my dad's navy history, but only because I have asked. I know how my parents acted and behaved while my dad was stationed in Rota, Spain and my mom went there to see him, again because I have asked. And I know why he doesn't like being referred to as a veteran because we have had many conversations about it. But again, I think his time in the navy shaped who he became, and helped him with discipline and other things that you have to be able to do as a husband and father.

I adore my father. He is my best friend. He is the person I strive to be when I grow up. He is my idol. So on this Memorial Day, and yes my dad is very much alive, I want to thank him for all he has done. Not just in the navy and the time he served in the military, but for everything he has taught me, my brothers and the rest of our family. My dad rules. He is cooler than any other dad in the world. This is simply an appreciation piece to my dad, the GOAT.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Pearl Harbor and Forgetting Our History

all photos by RD Kulik with a Nexus 6p

Today is Memorial Day. Many people, including myself, will spend the day laying about and maybe grilling up some good old American hamburgers and hot dogs. This is not a solemn day for me because like many of my fellow Gen Xers, I do not have many peers who fought, and died, in service to America. Memorial Day is almost never been about the lives lost, it has been a celebration of the time to come. One summer day a couple of years ago, I did have an opportunity to reflect on the lives lost in service to my country. This is that story.

In the summer of 2016 I was lucky to visit Hawaii for a few weeks. It was my first time in the 50th state, and like all good tourists I made my way to visit Pearl Harbor. I had grown up hearing stories of what happened on December 7th, 1941. In history class, we would learn all about the cowardly sneak attack by Imperial Japan. My grandparents, and their peers, would tell me about the nation coming together and vowing to defeat the evil that is in the world. In my lifetime Pearl Harbor has become a point of American pride, a romantic time that usher in the age of US dominance and moral superiority. During my visit to the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Park, I learned that back in 1941, the people stationed in and around Pearl Harbor were left under threat because of Washington DC saber rattling, they were left unaware and unprepared by the politicians gearing up for war. That December day was not a moment of pride for the people at Pearl Harbor, it was a nightmare with no end.

The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Park is like a lot of parks in the United States. The exhibits could use a little updating. The grounds could use some attention. The food is not cheap, or great. The thing Pearl Harbor has going for it, the weather is almost always perfect. 

Fun fact: temperature in June is 80, today it is 78

There are tons of things to see before you go out to see the remains of the USS Arizona. There is a submarine, models of US and Japanese World War II naval weapons, a lot of informational stations, and a film about the attack. The movie is the first part of the journey to the tomb that is the USS Arizona. What surprised me about the film is how direct it told the story of Pearl Harbor. Part of me expected to not hear a lot of negativity about the Japanese due to the PC culture right wingers are so afraid of. The film did not skip the fact that the Japanese attacked. I was also surprised by the film's explanation of why Imperial Japan felt the need to attack the United States. Growing up, we learn that the US was good, and Japan was bad. They were imperial monsters, and we believed in global freedom. That is not the case. World War II had been going on for a few years before the US got involved. The uncertainty in the world was making everyday resources extremely valuable. Many politicians in Washington DC wanted to get involved in the war, and they were creating policies to antagonize the other side. One of the policies used by DC to hit the hornets nest was to impose an oil embargo on Japan. The Japanese needed oil, and they had to find away to get around the embargo. The path chosen by the Japanese military was to bring the US into the global conflict. This was a non-surprising action by the Japanese. By destorying a large part of the US Pacific Naval fleet, the Japanese could easily get resources by taking over the Dutch East Indies. The film clearly explains this left out part of what led up to Pearl Harbor. The good people who make the movies for the US Park Service do not want us to forget what leads up to disaster and death.

The day I visited the USS Arizona memorial, the park was packed. I imagine that Pearl Harbor is filled with visitors on any day it is open. 

Any given day at Pearl Harbor

People were not dressed for mourning. We were all excited to be on our way to an iconic building, and an important piece of American history. Once we all stepped foot onto the memorial, the gravity of what happened started to sink in. Directly below our feet was the remnants of a once mighty warship.

What was not seen is the remains of the 1,102 sailors entombed with the ship. There was a wall in the memorial building with the name of every life lost.

The far end of the memorial was the wall of the lost. Everyone in this room was quite and reflective. The entire experience on the USS Arizona was one of shock and sadness over an event that happened over seventy-five years ago. 

The USS Arizona memorial may be the main part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Park, but there was much more to explore. Just acroos the harbor was the decommissioned USS Missouri. This ship was famous for being the place where the treaty to end the war with Imperial Japan was signed. It was also featured in the Cher video of "If I Could Turn Back Time"

These guns saw the end of World War II, and Cher's crotch.

Exploring the USS Missouri makes one respect the size of these warships. We only saw the rusted out tops of the USS Arizona, but we know that the ship is way bigger. Those 1,102 lost men are on a ship that is massive in size. There is very little we still see, and remember, of the USS Arizona, but that ship held a massive amount of people. Many of those people died, without warning, on the morning of December 7th, 1941. 

The memorial over the wreckage of the USS Arizona exists to let us know the horrible cost of war. The over 1,000 men that perished on that December day knew the risks, and they did not back down. Hawaii was not the safe vacation spot that is also a good place to film shows about smoke monsters, polar bears, and a strange group of castaways. Hawaii was known by the soldiers to be dangerous. Those soldiers were there to serve their country and protect the people of an American territory. The Valor in the Pacific National Park honors their service, the white structure over the USS Arizona acts as their tombstone, and the USS Missouri stands as their victory. Memorial Day is for them, and every person who gave selflessly to serve their fellow man.

May we never forget it.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast

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