My father was Howard Benson Emery. He was born on August 15, 1924 and he died on July 4, 1996. His father was Allen Emery Sr. (May 3, 1898-November 20, 1947) and his mother was Alta Mae Blake Emery (September 14, 1895-January 16, 1964). Dad was born on Parrot Street in Moundsville, West Virginia, right across the street from the Moundsville State Penitentiary. He served in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific during WW II. He was drafted on July 5, 1943 (he was 19 and a senior at Rochester, PA, High School at the time, having been held back in third grade when the family moved to PA) and was honorably discharged on December 9, 1945. He saw bloody action as his unit, the 182nd Infantry Americal Division, fought its way across the islands of the South Pacific toward Japan. He fought across Luzon in the Philippines and was on a troop ship, headed toward an invasion of mainland Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped. He received the Bronze Star for heroic actions in the line of duty on March 10 and 11, 1944, on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. He is buried beside my mother, Dorothy Jean Firestone Emery, in the Garden of the Resurrection section of Sylvania Hills Cemetery on Sunflower Road near New Brighton and Rochester, PA.
Dad and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but I’m sure many sons could say that about the relationship with their fathers. Dad was a good man, a good husband, and a good father. I believe he suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from his wartime service. I only began to think about the possibility of him having life-long problems related to the war after he died. Looking back on the part of his life that I knew about I believe I see indicators that would point to some degree of PTSD. It’s nothing I could ever prove but I think it’s possible.
When I think back on my short time with my father (I left home to join the Air Force when I was about 18 1/2), I realize he taught me many useful things. Here are some of the things my dad taught me. I’ll add to the list as I remember more:
– All aspects of fishing
– How to hang wallpaper
– How to handle tools for cars as well as for building
– How to tie a necktie
– How to respect others
– How to laugh and to make others laugh
– How to cook
– All about camping
– How to build a building (we built a small barn for our pony together)
– How to drive
– How to operate a small outboard motorboat
– How to cut grass with a power mower
– How to find rare old coins in his insurance collection coin bag (he was an insurance agent for many years)
– How to build foundation pillars for a building and get their heights the same using a piece of clear plastic tubing and water
– Why I should never smoke
– How to plant and manage a garden
– How to whistle shrilly through my teeth
– How to plant fence posts and how to string electric wire on them
– How to tell stories about my life
– How to properly paint a room
– How to make hard Christmas candy
– How to be polite
– How to install wall paneling and dropped ceilings
– How to open and use a checking/savings account
– How to play horseshoes
– How to cry (even though we were both men!)
Hmmm, I didn’t know Granddad much at all. Reading about what he taught you made me think of how I saw you use those skills. ( Now I know who to blame for your ear piercing whitsles!) I remember, rather fondly, your knack with repairing cars and I also recall the garden you planted in Lubbock. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember ever having camped with you. I didn’t even know that you can fish!
At first, I would be more inclined to describe you as an intellectual. That is because most of the things I learned from you are intrinsic more than tangible. But as I stop to think about it, I do remember you working with your hands a lot. For example, you remodled Jessica’s house in Sherman, you maintained our lawn – which put you up in trees trimming branches, and you were always fixing on of our cars! By the way, thanks for always dropping whatever you were doing so that you could help me when I needed you.
You’ve been a good Father and I miss you.
Jada,
Yes, as our youngest you really didn’t have much of a chance to get to know my dad. If you remember, he came to my military retirement in 1991. He stayed with us for about a week in Lubbock at that time. The only other times you would have been around him were when you were a baby and the time you, Jeff, and Jessica went with me to Pennsylvania after I retired.
You don’t remember camping with me because I never took my family camping. We didn’t have the equipment to do it and even though I really enjoyed it as a child I had no desire to do it as an adult. I do know how to fish and I enjoy it. I took Jeff fishing a couple of times when we lived on base at Eglin AFB in Fort Walton Beach, FL (you would have been too young to remember that). I have all my dad’s fishing gear in storage in TX. Most of it would be considered “antique” now.
Thanks for the “intellectual” description. I am a handyman too. My first real job was working at a gas station. My first job out of high school was working as a mechanic at a Sears Auto Center (see story on this blog). I put myself through the last 18 months of Lubbock Christian College by working at the Sears Auto Center in Lubbock. I’ve done quite a bit of house repair/restoration. The house I bought and fixed up, first for Jen and Rich and that Jessica later moved into was my biggest project. Of course, I did all the remodeling of our apartment in the church building at K-town, except for the tile work in the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom.
Just so you know, I’d still drop whatever I am doing to come help you, if I could.
I love you JJ,
Dad