Samuel Mason Walden Jr., War Veteran
As a kid, I wasn’t much interested in my dad’s war stories. 
I was more interested in being a pretend soldier than actually talking with a real veteran.
As a teenager and a young adult man, I was hopelessly self focused, and had little interest of things that didn’t directly pertain to me “right now”.
As the years pass, one can gain perspective, if they are fortunate and blessed by God. I have been blessed by God in this area, and I have finally come to appreciate the fact that I stand on the shoulders of many great men. Some are dead, and others, like my dad, are still alive.
My dad served in the Navy, and was on the U.S.S. Pennsylvania, a battleship. You can read the history of the “Pennsie” here. He served in the South Pacific, and his ship was instrumental in the defeating of the Japanese forces. His ship was in every critical battle fought in the South Pacific.
I have grown to appreciate the efforts of the generation older than me. They have experience and wisdom that I would do well to listen to.
I won’t take a lot of time here to tell dad’s war stories. Maybe I will some day. Today I will simply say “thanks” to my dad for fighting to make my world a better place. Thanks to all the men and women who served our country.
May we who never fought, appreciate the sacrifice and commitment that others have made, and from which we have benefited.
Thanks Dad…
9 Responses so far
Praying Heart
May 25th, 2009
10:25 am
What a blessing it was to meet your dad when he came to church for a visit with your sweet mother.
What a wonderful blessing to still have your parents around, to talk with them, spend time with them, and to gleen from the years of wisdom they’ve gathered in this life.
You are very blessed indeed to recognize the treasure you have in your parents and to honor them as you do.
I hope you’re recording your dad’s war stories and all, as someday when your parants are gone you’ll want to pass them down to your grandchildren and them to theirs.
Isn’t your dad also a preacher? Or did I misunderstand.
Praying Heart
May 25th, 2009
11:14 am
Pastor Bill;
My older brother, Bob was in the Navy too. He was on the USS Enterprise and the Carl Vincent . . .
He was in the Viet Nam war and died at a very young age –
He was buried at Arlington National Cementary, MD – with a 21 gun salute in honor of his service to our free Country . . .
I’m thankful for your blog where I can add his name to this memorial.
Blessings to all who have family members in the military or who have been in the military . . . Thank you!
Jim Prudhomme
May 25th, 2009
11:48 am
Bill, thanks for the timely note. My dad is still alive too. I had a similar reaction to dad as a teen. Thank God we have both lived long enough to appreciate our dads, while they are still alive. We are standing on the shoulders of great men! Well said!
LosPrecios
May 26th, 2009
6:10 pm
My Dad was in WWII as well. Served in the Army and saw some action in Europe. He faithfully attended an annual reunion with his Army buddies as long as he was physically able to do so. Dad had a lot of WWII memorabilia around the house: all his medals, his draft card and discharge papers, photos of his outfit, some letters he had written to his mom from overseas (complete with blacked out areas for security purposes). Dad didn’t talk about his stories much either, I guess he figured us “young’uns” weren’t much interested, which is why he probably attended the reunions…comrades in arms could understand.
Dad was reading this book written by Tom Brokaw called “The Last Great Generation” or something like that. It talked about the generation that went through and grew up during WWII being the generation that really understood the values of the USA and what it fought for.
After Dad died, I wanted to have his 8×10 military uniform photo. My, he was a handsome devil in that uniform!
I guess I don’t really have a point to my post…other than to say: thanks for sharing about our Veterans. They are woefully under-appreciated.
Praying Heart
May 30th, 2009
10:21 am
Hi Pastor Bill;
If i may, i’d like to comment on what Los Precious said.
Los Precious;
I think it is good for us to remember what our parents and grandparents went through during the wars (WW!! – Korean – and even the Great Depression) and to remember that back then there was more respect for God and the desire to honor Him and our country. I love that we have this heritage and pray we may remind our children and grandchildren of this, as they are not getting it in the public school teaching. We can pass down the batton of faith in God and love for the work He’s doing in our country by holding onto those precious values and teaching them to our loved ones. Thanks for sharing.
Pat Sieler
June 2nd, 2009
7:00 pm
Hey Pastor Bill,
My dad was in the Navy during WW2 as well. I love talking to him about it. He served on an aircraft carrier, don’t recall the name. But he fought in the Battle of Midway. What an amazing time in our nations history.
pastorbillwalden
June 3rd, 2009
7:20 pm
Hi Pat,
Welcome to the blog. Yes, our dads lived and served in an amazing time in our nations’ history. Our dads served in the same Pacific arena, and fought in the same battles. We have much to be proud and thankful for. Thanks for dropping by, and blessings be upon you.
John Smeby
June 28th, 2009
6:29 am
Pastor Bill–I love this. My dad did not serve in the military, nor is he still alive (had to give him back to Jesus in January of this year). But I, too, am thankful for the wisdom and grace (even though it took awhile–and He’s still not done!) to see in both my parents, while they were on this earth, the sacrifices that really do–should–make up a fulfilling life. How shallow much of today’s culture has become. God bless you for sharing about your dad!
Ben
July 2nd, 2009
10:09 am
You are blessed to have those stories. My dad served in the Aleutian Islands during the war, later being readied to take part in the invasion of Japan. Thankfully that didn’t have to happen. I too spent my youth as you did, more interested in playing war games as a child and not having the inquisitiveness to ask as a young man. Not that he would have talked about it anyway, my mom has said that he just shut down about those years. This seems to be the rule for these men rather than the exception.
Because of the many sacrifices they and those left at home made for us at that time are they called The Greatest Generation for a reason.
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