Today, my son’s school had a Veteran’s Day Assembly and asked the kids to invite any veterans they knew. He wanted to invite my husband’s grandfather because he was an officer in the organization that later became the Navy Seals (and therefore a bad ass even in his 80′s) but he is in poor health and lives 3 hours away.  Instead, we asked a friend who happens to be a World War II Veteran. The vet I’m talking about is the uncle of one of Lily’s nurses and his name is Uncle Albert.  His niece, our nurse, is almost like family to us and we’ve met her uncle quite a few times over the past three years. He doesn’t have any children or grandchildren of his own and he thinks Lily is “the most darling little girl.” He will also tell you without any problem that she is his favorite. Our nurse lives with him full-time since his wife died of Alzheimer’s Disease a few years back because he has severe diabetes that he struggles to keep controlled. He is lonely without his wife and his niece helps keep him going. I like to think that we play a little part in keeping him moving forward as well even if we don’t see him all the time.

I wanted to invite this man to the assembly because I thought it would be good for him and my son. I think they were proud of each other and my kid was thrilled to tell me how exciting Uncle Albert’s stories were.  Albert was in the Navy during World War II and Korea where he mainly served as a cook. He was in the service for 9 years total and much of the time was spent in the Pacific Ocean. After he left the service, Albert became a fancy chef at high end restaurants and he still teaches culinary classes at age 84. He may not be in the best health but he still can teach like a professor and he knew his audience today.

The most intriguing story he told was that of CB Jack, a Jack Russell Terrier brought aboard the ship as a pet. One day the ship was rocking a bit and some water splashed onto the deck where the men and the dog were hanging out while off duty. Someone whistled at CB Jack to come over and the little dog took off running, slid on the wet deck and right under the inadequate railing, directly into the choppy ocean.

Albert said sharks constantly followed the ship because they wanted the left over food that was thrown overboard. CB Jack never had a chance. As the off duty crew watched in horror, a shark ate the little dog in one bite. Albert told this story to a class of 4th grade students and 15 hands shot up immediately after he spoke to ask more questions. The kids wanted to know what kind of shark it was, if the sharks ate people who fell overboard (They did. The crew also caught sharks and opened their bellies, looking for dog tags). 4th graders, at least the boys, are very interested in wild animals, action and adventure so this story was right up their alley. I’m sure at least a few of them were a bit traumatized by the tale of the terrier and the shark but I’m sure there are far worse war stories he could have told and the kids probably need to hear the military isn’t all how it seems in video games- innocent creatures die. Also, many people talked about this dog’s fate today and I’m telling the story to you so his legacy lives on far past his unfortunate demise.

The story of the dog has a bit of a happy ending. 45 years later while driving in St. Louis, Uncle Albert and his niece came across a stray terrier that was the spitting image of CB Jack. It was clear he had been abandoned or never cared for and he needed a home. They called him to the car, called the local shelters and when no one responded, took him to the vet and made him a permanent member of their family. The new dog was and is named….. Jack.

(I’m very sorry if I’ve horrified any animal lovers with this story.)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 11:22 pm and is filed under NaBloPoMo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.