This weekend, you will be reminded a lot to take a moment away from your barbeque's to remember why we have a long weekend to usher in the summer season. It's kind of staggering to think of it, but I'd be willing to bet that each and every one of us has a family member or friend, or knows someone who has served in the military (if you haven't yourself). For me, there's quite a few. Let me introduce you to one.


George Raymond Hayes is my uncle by marriage. He married my mom's sister and they enjoyed 51 years of wedded bliss (no sarcasm there, they really did) before she passed away in 2001. They never had any kids of their own, but they certainly had an influence on many. Including me.

Uncle Ray (as I know him) is now 87 years old and is very spry considering he's battling cancer and a broken elbow. He grew up in Newburgh, NY during the Depression and Prohibition. The son of Irish Catholic parents, he is still very religious but there's always been an element of the devil too. His father had a small trucking business (i.e., one truck) and did very well hauling bootleg booze. Uncle Ray helped him on those deliveries. As a teenager, with a group of friends, he ambushed a Klu Klux Klan meeting with BB guns. We often forget that you didn't have to be black for the Klan not to like you.

As the storm of war was gathering steam, Uncle Ray decided to join the Navy. He had already been in awhile when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Eventually he was assigned to PG-62, the USS Temptress. It was a Flower Class Corvette built in England (yeah, they gave us stuff too), a smallish boat meant for convoy duty. Before the war was over, he participated in the sinking of a German U-Boat, witnessed the mess at Omaha Beach through the site of the ship's 3 inch gun, chipped ice off the radar tower to keep the boat from capsizing, survived a direct hit of a 500 lbs. bomb that didn't explode, and ran aground in a hurricane off Virginia Beach.

The Navy brought him back for Korea. His most harrowing story from that conflict was laying down cover fire with a BAR while extracting a shore patrol that had gotten into trouble. There's many more stories and I've heard them all a million times. They're a part of my history too.

After the wars, he continued to be there when someone needed him. He took care of each of my mom's sisters in their dying days because they had no one else. This hard drinking, opinionated, impulsive Irishman also has tremendous compassion. He's still quick with a joke and will flash that sly smile that means he's up to something. Lately we haven't been able to meet for lunch and a couple of cold ones as was our custom. I really miss that.

Uncle Ray is one of my good buddies. He'd be the last one to use the word "hero" so I won't embarrass him with it. You can't argue his integrity though.

Remember a Vet this weekend.