Drive with Daddy

My Dad and I have started carpooling again to work because it is so far and both of us could save some money on gas.

This morning was really cool.

Usually the rides are quite with some back ground music while the passenger sleeps.

(getting up at 5:30 every morning is very tiring...)

We were doing the usual thing when this came on the radio.

The conversation let to wars and my Dad and Uncle Steve.

My Dad enlisted in the reserves after he got home from his mission because he knew his number would be coming up soon for the draft anyways.

And also he met my Mom after his mission and didn't want to go over to Vietnam. :)

He was only in for a year and trained in Utah. 

He trained at Camp Williams and then University of Utah.

He said that there was a field and U of U where they would train that isn't there now.

He was released due to medical issues and didn't have to go to Vietnam.

My AWESOME Uncle Steve, he was drafted when he was 19 or 20. 

I think he just graduated High School when his number came up.

He was sent over to Vietnam and I bet he has some cool stories.

My Dad said that Steve's first group was killed with only himself and his friend surviving.

The third group was also caught in the line of fire and only three men survived, himself included.

If I understood the story right, Uncle Steve was shot and was sent to Washington DC to heal and never went back to Vietnam.

He has a bunch of medals and one of them is an honor medal. (can't remember the exact name at the time)

To me, my Dad and Uncle Steve are too young to be in any of the wars...

When I think of people being in the war, I think of people like my Grandpa Pingree and Grandpa Hoellein.

My Grandpa Pingree flew flighter planes and was waiting for his mission when the war ended.

So he never saw the "line of fire".

Grandpa Pingree has so many stories though and could literally talk your ear off.

My Grandpa Hoellein passed away when my Dad was young and I have only heard so many stories about him...

Actually, there are only two or three stories that I can remember about him.

My Grandma Hoellein passed away when I was about 10 but I bet if she were still here I would have a ton of stories about him.

My Dad told me this one:

Grandpa Hoellein was the highest ranking, non-commission, that he could be over in Northern Africa during WWII.

(Northern Africa? I know! Cool right?)

He had a driver of a Jeep that had a huge gun on it and was in charge of tanks!

It totally sounded like something from the movies when my Dad was telling me.

Something happened and he ended up dying.

Back then they had a hole in the boat that they put all the dead bodies in to keep them cold and preserve them so they could get the bodies back to the US.

One night, as the guys were making their rounds checking on the dead bodies, my Grandpa moved!!

Crazy right? He was dead...I bet it freaked them out!

He was taken to a hospital that is up north, right as you are going up that hill to go through Logan Canyon.

It's that really cool old building on the north side of the road.

At that time, my Grandma was training to be a nurse at that hospital and that's how they met.

My Grandma would also go with my Dad's Aunt to visit my Grandpa in the hospital.

And the rest is history for them. :)

It was such a fun drive to work and I can't wait until the drive home so I can ask my Dad more questions about my Grandpa being in the war.