Soldier Boys

Soldiers at war, well that's a topic that all of us have heard about over the last few years. Well, yes we have many good men and woman over in the Middle East right now, but I want to talk about the past a little. In history class, we sit there and read the dry facts of the great and horrific World Wars. Yes, many good people died, but the fact is that many still lived. By sending my great uncle, who was my Grandpa's younger brother, many letters, and snooping around the house for pictures and old letters, I learned a little more about soldier life than just the info off of a text page.

When reading the "chicken scratch" that my Grandpa wrote down to my Grandma, I learned of the life he lived in Paris, France during the World War 2 was taking place. He served as a soldier and a part time cook. (when he came home he opened his own restaurant) Anyway, by reading the letters, and looking at the pictures, plus reading the backs, I learned new faces and things of my Grandpa that I never knew. He faced many challenges being so far away from home. Being in a strange place, and overall putting his life on the line to serve his country. When overlooking the big things that you hear on T.V. all the time, the thing that hit me the most was that all the men in the pictures were smiling. In a strange place, were building for miles on end were blown away, straggling children wandered the street, and yet through all of the smuggle these men were smiling. The smiles that broke through the camera, in the mist of the danger they were in, these soldiers smiled through the rough times and came out together, still holding a grin. To me this is bravery, to look to the future when it doesn't always look very bright. Bravery, to me this is bravery, my Grandpa and his two brothers are my definition of bravery.

Soldiers always seem to appear when bravery is brought up. Then I ask you is that such a bad thing? They are always there, and the fallen are never forgotten. The smiles in the pictures are my sense of strength, and I believe it was my Grandpa's too. Bravery comes is all shapes and sizes, its different no matter how you look at it. What is your definition of bravery? Is it a saying or even a person? I am curious like usual, but I am excited to hear!