Many families have one or more ancestors that have served their country through military service. Military service often takes soldiers to far away places, and they often return with very interesting accounts of events that happened around the world. Some stories are somber; stories of losing battles, harsh conditions, and devastating injuries. Some soldiers bring home stories about people that they met or animals that they encountered. I have a relative who served in Vietnam, and he has pictures of a puppy that someone had brought into the barracks. The puppy was a welcome diversion for the soldiers and he became a mascot of sorts. Some stories that soldiers bring home are downright amazing. My husband is related to someone who was shot down over Germany in World War II. The man parachuted to the ground, only to be captured and brought to a prison camp. Fortunately, he survived that ordeal as well and went on to return home to his family.
If you would like to honor the experiences of the soldiers in your family, why not assemble a collection of their stories so that these stories can be preserved for future generations. Of course, some people are reluctant to speak about their experience in the military and their desire to refrain from sharing their experiences must be respected. If there are people in your family who would like to contribute their stories to a collection, you can either interview them or then write up the stories yourself or you can ask them if they would like to write their stories for you. Ask them if there are any pictures or other memorabilia that they would like to include in the book. The effort that you put into collecting your relatives’ stories of their military days will be well worth it because now your family will have a tangible reminder of their ancestors’ service to their country.