#My Dad|Viet Nam Veteran/Navy

[brooklynislandgirl]

[asphaltvalkyrie]

This time of year I tend to get depressed, because both of my parents died in June/July just a few years ago, but with things being as they are now, I can at least be proud of the kind of people they were.

-My dad was a Navy combat veteran of Viet Nam, there against his will. He wore a cast-iron peace sign with his dog tags.  He vividly described watching babies die of scarlet fever and seeing american soldiers drag injured viet cong behind their boats to drown. He usually had tears in his eyes when he did so.

One of my favorite memories of him is him yelling “What two adults do behind closed doors is none of my fucking business and its not yours either you fucking clown!” and raising his fist at someone who was trying to collect signatures to prevent CA from recognizing gay marriage.  

I remember him once saying this about taxes; “if my extra money can help unwed mothers and homeless veterans then thats where it should be.”

He always hated the idea of teaching “tolerance” in regards to different people - because he said that it didn’t go far enough, and what we should teach love and compassion instead.

-My mom was the daughter of a Polish-Austrian Jew who emigrated to the US just a few months shy of Krystallnacht. She spent most of her adult life as a reading teacher in a predominantly black/latinx Los Angeles school district and once told me that she preferred working with disadvantaged kids because they had a sense of wonder about learning and really needed kind authority figures in their lives.

One of my favorite memories of her is when we were at an equestrian park and I asked her why a man was yelling at his horse. She very contemptuously said “Because some people just think of animals as things.”

She taught me about sex at a young age, emphasizing love, consent and boundaries, encouraging me to trust the “little voice“ that told me to get out of certain situations no matter what. When I was a teenager and the topic of sex came up, she said “Just say the word and we can go to Planned Parenthood.”

Her most hated word was “nigger.”

Sometimes I miss them so much it hurts, but part of me is glad they’re not living through these times.