My father served in the U.S Navy, from 1959-1970. In 1970, he was shot and paralyzed in the Vietnam war. I had not seen my father though from the time, he and my mother divorced. I believe I was around three years old. I am now 52.
The first time I had any memory of meeting my father, I had turned 17. He was in a wheel chair, but he still drove. My now ex-husband and at that time high school sweetheart helped me to find my father.
My father was a very proud man of his military career in the Navy. We had not grown up to aspire that being a positive effect of that era. Thus in middle school, I had done a paper, on the effects of war on family dynamics. I would yet later find that this was not the case at all. Those family dynamics were of a different war within a very sad home. Injuries left on my body, with no memory of what happened to me, allowed a life that may have kept me from ever fully knowing my father.
Though, through the tragic events of all of this, my father in his wheel chair would go dancing and remained an active part of the disabled veterans. He had various aspects of pride and lively hood that kept him going. He went through a great deal of trauma as most did that had come home from Vietnam. Then to deal with the dilemma of the tragedies that took place here in the states, he had some very outstanding qualities. He passed away in 2002, and left a legacy of pride in his military life. He will always be remembered with that very pride, tried and true to the yellow and blue.
His name is Melvin Thomas, disabled american veteran, United States Navy E6
Citrus Heights, CA