HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

(Source for Father's Day graphic - Marvel Creations - http://www.marvelcreations.com/images/fatherban.jpg )

Like many men, my Father wore many hats. And in the case of my Father, Dad wore many patches. Here is a small sampling of what Dad proudly wore as a soldier in the U.S. Army. Dad was a veteran of 21 years from 1942 to 1963.

(Source for 1st Filipino Regiment shoulder patch - California and Second World War California's Filipino Infantry - http://www.militarymuseum.org/Filipino.html )

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Sometime in 1942, Dad enlisted in the U.S. Army. Uncle Fermin (Dad's brother) and Dad both left their jobs as bellboys at the Valentine-on-Broadway Hotel in Kansas City (MO ? or KS ?). Dad said that he was sent to Ft. Ord in Northern California for Basic Training and then to Australia for Jungle and Combat Training. At one time, he told of walking through a rainbow during a training march in Australia. The only other mention of his wartime experiences is his crossing the Pacific Ocean in a convoy. Dad was out on the deck top at night. The convoy was being fired on and occasionally a shell would strike another troop ship. He was very fatalist about the ocean crossing. “When your time is due your time is due.”

(Source for Third Infantry Division patch - http://www.stewart.army.mil/3DIDWeb/Homepage/3idhome.htm )
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After the Korea War began, Dad was a Military Police Officer in the Third Infantry Division.

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There were other units that Dad served in, but this is only a brief sampling.
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(Source for Sergeant First Class patch -http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Rank_page/History_of_Enlisted_Ranks.htm )

Dad's highest rank was that of a Sergeant First Class.

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This is a Happy Father's Day wish to all our Fathers.