thanks, dad

[cheezyflier]

happy father's day to all you dads out there. if yours is still around, i hope you'll make his day a little better somehow, and let him know you appreciate all the things he did for you. even the things you don't know about.

[rdaniell]

happy father's day to all you dads out there. if yours is still around, i hope you'll make his day a little better somehow, and let him know you appreciate all the things he did for you. even the things you don't know about.

My father died in 1993 and I still miss him. While he was alive he and I had a good relationship. As I like to say, he lived long enough for me to see him get smarter with age...I always knew that he loved me and was proud of my few accomplishments but, it was only after he died that I found a letter in his billfold that he had carried so many years. It was a letter from the commandant of Sheppard Air Force Base informing him that I was an honor graduate from Basic Loadmaster School. That was in 1964. He had carried it for almost 30 years.

So I echo cheezyflier's comment. If yours is still alive, spend some quality time with him if possible. If yours like mine is deceased, may he rest in peace and may light perpetual shine upon him+

RD

[SSI01]

My dad carried a picture of me that was taken when I couldn't have been more than 5 years of age. It was in his wallet when he died at 66 in '82. Circumstances of the times in which he came of age caused him to do some extraordinary things not just for me, but for everyone alive in this country right now. They were personally repugnant things but vitally necessary at the time. He never spoke of them, at least not in detail. I now know some were hair-raising, many physically gruelling and others downright boring. However, thanks to his efforts I live in a country where I am not required to bow my knee to any man for anything I have.

[OBIO]

My Dad passed away in 1995. There are times that I can hardly remember how he looked, how he sounded. But there are times, when watching a movie or working on my car or sharpening fish hooks, that I remember him with crystal clear clarity....at times I can even remember how he smelled. Dad was a working man through and through....and he quite literally worked until it was killing him.

Dad loved watching war movies and documentaries. And it was times spent on the sofa on Saturday and Sunday afternoon beside him, watching those movies and documentaries, that I developed a strong interest in aircraft....especially the B-24 Liberator. And we never missed an episode of Wings....the aircraft series on the old Military Channel.

When I was 14, I got my first computer.....a Radio Shack Color Computer II with 16K of RAM....for Christmas. And the very first program Dad bought to go with that computer was a flight simulator. Just a simple 2D interpretation of a single engine GA aircraft....a Piper Pacer I think it was supposed to be. Dad and I would spend hours each week flying that sim. He never mastered landings, but I could land that little plane like crazy. How he would love seeing the sim I use now....full 3D, reflective textures, 3D world to fly around, realistic clouds and all. And how he would laugh every time I Panther a landing.

I miss you Dad. Thanks for all that you taught me, all that you gave up so that I could have what I needed.

Tim

[rpjkw]

My Dad died June 4, 1998. My greatest regret of life is that I didn't ask more questions about his time as a B-25 pilot in WWII. And other subjects, too. Even today I still catch myself thinking I'll just ask Dad about something.

Thanks, Dad, you are sorely missed.:salute:

Bob

[aeromed202]

Mine passed away about 5 years ago from Alzheimers. After flying in WWII he took his GI bill and went to medical school and was a became a first rate doctor and surgeon for some forty years. Most of what I learned about being a good citizen and human being I learned from him. At least his affliction didn't alter his pleasant demeanor right to the end as it can do for others so we were very grateful for that blessing. Today my kids got up early and made a special breakfast for me. This was quite a display of affection for two who prefer to sleep in, on weekends, and on summer vacation yet.

[Lionheart]

Some great stories of some great dads...

I lost my dad in 89. I miss him still. He spoke with an accent like the Cajun cook, Justin Wilson. My friends loved talking to him when we were kids. He would take us up flying. Most kids in school had never been up in a small plane. Dad served at the end of WWII, missed seeing any action. He was a carrier transfer pilot. He loved buying older planes and restoring them. His best work was the Fairchild 24R back in San Diego. What a beauty. We all loved flying that thing to fly-ins.

Dad helped many people. A very nice guy. When he passed on, I was amazed that people from all over the country showed up for the funeral. It was a large chappel and people lined up along the back wall, stood in door ways, and listened outside, those who couldnt fit inside. Many many tears that day.

I miss you dad....

[Dain Arns]

happy father's day to all you dads out there. if yours is still around, i hope you'll make his day a little better somehow, and let him know you appreciate all the things he did for you. even the things you don't know about.

Yeah, he's been battling Lymphoma for 7 years now. Seems to be in remission, again.
Have to say thanks to my Dad, for putting up with me during my 'under-employment' for the past three years.
It was a very frustrating time, but being employed full-time again has helped me return some of the favors he gave me.
Probably wouldn't have made it without him.

[TARPSBird]

My Dad died of a heart attack when I was in kindergarten, but I have very clear and fond memories of us doing stuff together. He was 49, kinda old for having a 5-year-old kid, but he took me with him wherever he went, usually in my sister's hand-me-down Radio Flyer red wagon. I like to think the life I've led has made him proud of me.

[Crusader]

My Dad died in 2007 but I was so fortunate to have spent sixty years here on earth with him . He was a very proud USMC WWII vet and only the last two years of his life did he talk about his experiences on Iwo Jima . I miss both of my parents(Mom 2005) terribly and I think a part of me went with them when they passed but I know I'll join them one of these days .

Happy Father's Day everyone ,

Rich

[Odie]

My Dad passed before he got to meet his grandson. I wish he could've and I wish my son could've met him. My Dad spent 4 and a half years in the Pacific during
WW2 and won numerous citations and medals (bronze star) that he never talked about except within the company of other WW2 vets. He worked hard and
the older I got, the smarter he became because everything he had told me as a teenager about the world was now becoming true as I entered my twenties. He had
a good hand at repairing cars and building things. He built a pair of walking stilts for every kid in the neighborhood and for weeks had the youngsters elevated as
they walked. He taught me how to barbque, a skill or art if you will, that I passed on to my son. Every Sunday he would grill out by a 55 gallon drum that had been
converted into a barbque pit. We might not have talked much during those times, but it was good to spend time with him. In 1976, he finally bought a brand new
Chevy stepside pickup, candy apple red, which we immediately dubbed THE RED STREAK. He would later add a CB radio in it and took RED STREAK as his handle.

Not too many months after that, he had a bad heart attack that laid him up for about 2 months. He sat at home, wishing he was at work, but followed the doctor's
orders. Finally the doc gave him the all-clear and he returned to work, more than happy to be back doing what he said he should've been doing. A week later he
had a massive coronary. We rushed him to the hospital and he passed two hours later.

I think about him from time to time when life beats me up a little and I miss him. He was a great man and even greater Dad. He was one of the Good Guys.

[cheezyflier]

i never knew my dad the way one man knows another. he died when i was just a teenager.
i would like for him to have known my sons, and my grandson, and my grandaughter. and the family i have now, as well. sometimes i wonder what he might think of my japanese wife.
he served in the pacific on a sub chaser. i told my son today this thing i believe.
as a dad, you do the best you can, and hope it's enough. i don't think i know any who don't wish they could have done more, or done this or that thing different. if you're lucky, after that you get to be the grandpop, which is easier, and alot more fun.

[mikezola]

1 year ago today was the last day I saw my Dad alive... Not a day's gone by when I haven't thought about something he said or did. Lord willing, sometime in the next few months, I'll be moving into the house that he built- the house I grew up in. I thank him often for the gifts he gave me- I'm referring to the gifts you don't see- that I will always carry in my head and my heart. There was a period of time when he and I didn't get along so well- the problem was I was growing up too much like him for us to be under the same roof. After that we grew to become quite a pair of 'partners in crime'. Thankfully, he lived long enough to see me become who I am, for which he was very proud, and see me finally meet the lady he hoped I would find(he called her 'a pearl beyond price'). I'm also thankful that on the last day I saw him, I told him I loved him.

Dad, I'll see you again eventually in a far better place...

Attachment 67672

-Mike Z.

[brad kaste]

'Pops' Kaste succumbed to complications due to diabetes in 1992. Gosh, how I still miss him. He was a devout family man,...he never went to bars or chased around. His family was his life. He led by example,...not by lectures. It's odd,.....how I pictured him then as an ol' stogy fuddy duddy...only to realize how truly blessed I was to have him make me tow the line and his 'ways' impacted so strongly on my brother and I years later. Thanks 'Pops' by leading by example and keeping me in line.

[rdaniell]

...for posting this thread. I thoroughly enjoyed reading what everyone wrote. I must admit sometimes with tears in my eyes.

RD