#52ancestors Post Twenty-One: The Military

Whit Criswell Bryan was stationed on this ship in 1951. He sent this photo to a friend
and on the back wrote, This is the U. S. S. Macon (CA 132) Heavy Cruiser taken
at Gitmo, Cuba.

1350 men - 75 officers
9 eight inch guns
12 five inch guns
Numerous 40 mm and 20 mm
One Helicopter

Whit Criswell Bryan
Dad sent me this postcard from Rome in the early 1960s. 

This week's writing prompt for #52ancestors is Military. I was a child of the military. Dad was a hospital corpsman in the Navy. Big ships and noisy jets were commonplace where we lived.  We carried ID Cards and had base stickers on our cars. We shopped at the commissary and Navy Exchange. And, when sick, visited the dispensary to see a doctor. 


The military determined where you lived and for how long. Dad was in the Navy and our family moved to Virginia in 1956. We never left the area, but Dad was frequently away.  

Dad joined the Navy in 1940 and retired in 1969. He was at Pearl Harbor during the bombing, spent a year with the Marines in Vietnam, and experienced a lot in between.

Whit Criswell Bryan - Vietnam 1967

William Joseph Quinn - Korea 1962

My husband's father was in the Army. His family's experience was very different from mine as they moved frequently; Georgia, Virginia (several times), Kentucky, Michigan, France, and Germany.  

William Joseph Quinn served in Army ROTC at Fordham University and the Army Reserves before entering the Regular Army. He served in Korea, Vietnam, Europe, Israel and in the United States before he retired in 1982.  

Both Whit Criswell Bryan (1920-2001) and William Joesph Quinn (1930 - 2005) volunteered to serve. Both had instances where their lives may have been at risk, but thankfully, both had long military careers and enjoyed retirement. 

Monday is Memorial Day; a day to honor those who gave their lives serving our country in the military. Take time to remember and honor those individuals.

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Diana

© 2018

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.