In tribute of Memorial Day, I'd like to make special mention of my grandpa, Private Eugene Markland, a high school drop out who served during the good 'ol dubya dubya two transporting artillery in the South Pacific theater... in the sh*t, so to speak, of the Philipines, the Falkan Islands, etc. It should be noted that he was, at one point, a Corporal, but was demoted after going AWOL so he could see his newborn son, my dad, back in the states. Before being shipped off to war, he was promised that when his wife Dorothy gave birth that he'd be able to fly back... but, when the time came the military changed its mind... not much changes, huh? Upon his return to service, he was demoted to Private.
That was way back in 1942. On May 16th, 2004, four sons, five grandkids, four great grandkids, and sixty two years later, my grandpa, Eugene Markland, along with a number of other World War II vets, was finally awarded a high school diploma. He even wore a gown and hat.(Among his bits of wisdom include lines like, "I know they can't help it if they're ugly, but they don't have to go outside.")
Happy Memorial Day.
Chalup America!
