WEBVTT

00:05.940 --> 00:07.940
veterans Day is just an opportunity

00:07.940 --> 00:10.900
really to appreciate people that I've

00:10.900 --> 00:14.580
spent most of my life serving with and

00:14.580 --> 00:18.420
under and alongside . Um and also

00:18.420 --> 00:20.520
to pay my respects to those who have

00:20.530 --> 00:22.730
preceded us in serving our country .

00:28.440 --> 00:30.551
My favorite veteran is my grandfather

00:30.551 --> 00:32.662
Robert . Hendren McCarthy was born in

00:32.662 --> 00:35.760
1910 And passed away in 1987

00:36.740 --> 00:38.962
during World War Two and my grandfather

00:38.962 --> 00:40.851
served in the pacific but he also

00:40.851 --> 00:43.840
served during the conflict in Korea and

00:43.840 --> 00:47.370
in Vietnam . And interestingly , he

00:47.370 --> 00:50.900
enlisted in the Navy on December

00:50.900 --> 00:54.210
7 , 1942 As a 31 year old practicing

00:54.210 --> 00:57.400
attorney in Springfield Illinois . Um

00:57.400 --> 00:59.567
shortly thereafter , uh he served as a

00:59.567 --> 01:01.622
navigator and finally a captain of a

01:01.622 --> 01:03.980
large LST , which he took command of in

01:03.980 --> 01:07.930
early 1943 in Seneca Illinois and

01:07.930 --> 01:10.097
my mother and grandmother followed him

01:10.097 --> 01:12.370
along the Mississippi River to New

01:12.370 --> 01:14.426
Orleans where they saw him for a few

01:14.426 --> 01:16.259
days prior to him sailing to Los

01:16.259 --> 01:18.720
Angeles Where they said Goodbye and he

01:18.940 --> 01:22.170
returned in 1946 after three years of

01:22.170 --> 01:25.960
service in the pacific he served in

01:26.330 --> 01:28.390
SaiPan , tinian and Guam areas now

01:28.390 --> 01:30.223
known as the commonwealth of the

01:30.223 --> 01:32.950
northern marianas islands and his role

01:32.950 --> 01:36.530
was to bring troops and vehicles close

01:36.530 --> 01:38.474
to shore at which point they would

01:38.474 --> 01:40.697
launch out in other amphibious vehicles

01:40.697 --> 01:42.150
for for landings .

01:48.640 --> 01:51.890
Um It's interesting um One of the

01:51.890 --> 01:54.030
things that my grandmother told us is

01:54.030 --> 01:56.410
that uh he was also an attorney and he

01:56.410 --> 01:58.720
later became a judge advocate in the

01:58.720 --> 02:00.942
Navy and he served in the Naval Reserve

02:00.942 --> 02:03.164
as an active duty service member for 27

02:03.164 --> 02:06.970
years . That that when ever anyone

02:06.970 --> 02:09.081
ran into trouble , they always wanted

02:09.081 --> 02:11.370
him to preside over their hearing

02:11.370 --> 02:14.280
because he was fair , he was caring and

02:14.280 --> 02:16.391
he always had their best interests in

02:16.391 --> 02:18.502
mind . So I think those are qualities

02:18.502 --> 02:18.060
that I learned from .