A Tribute to Merrill Dean Ray.
My Dad was a Veteran and war hero during the Korean War. It wasn’t until after he died that I realized that he had went behind enemy lines to take out a “gunner” that was not allowing the American troops to advance. During this maneuver, he lost two of his friends who went with him. He was the only survivor of the three men who took that risk. He never talked about the war. My brother read this in some paperwork he found in my Dad’s footlocker after he passed away. He passed away on Christmas Day 2014. He had a funeral with military honors. I’m sure he received a hero’s reward, but truthfully he has always been my hero. As a child when I learned that he had fought in a war I was about 12 years old, naively, I asked him, “Did you ever kill anybody”. He didn’t say anything to me but I saw tears well up in his eyes, and he continued working in the yard. I did’t say anything else and we kept on raking the lawn.
Today, I remember Him.
Happy Memorial Day
