The lasting impact of showing valor
A surprising benefit of participation with Preserving Valor
Part of Preserving Valor’s description is “a treasure for their families,” but I actually had no idea the extent to which that would be true when I first wrote it. I thought it might be something like a photo album, where people might occasionally pull it out to hear the family stories or remember what someone’s voice sounded like. But it’s been a lot more than that.
The latest season of the podcast featured my father’s older brother, my Uncle Brian. I’ve started to get messages that close relatives are listening to the stories Brian shared now that the season is complete.
Even though they’re from the same generation as him, they’ve been surprised to hear some of the things he shared. I’ve been told it makes them understand him and some of his choices better.
And even more importantly, some relatives have asked me how to get in contact with him. It’s given both him and I a chance to grow closer to our family. I really hope that my continued efforts with Preserving Valor will give the same chance to other families to understand each other, and pull closer together.
Next week, we’ll start hearing from Stanley, who served in the Air Force during the late 50s and early 60s, and spent his last year in the service in Thule, Greenland. He worked as an aircraft mechanic on a base that was crucial to our Cold War defenses. Learn about the construction of the base in 1953 (from the US Army perspective) from the video below.
All of this would be happening while Stanley was in middle and high school, working on his parents’ dairy farm, unaware that he’d be headed there in just a few years.
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