Remembering a veteran I never knew.

Today in not only Veterans Day but also the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I "the war to end all wars."  Well. it was a hopeful thought.  My father-in-law fought in France during WWI and from some history I've read, it was a very nasty war.  I never met my father-in-law.  He died in his 50's, before my husband and I met, from heart and lung problems which began years before when he inhaled mustard gas during the battles.  His name was Clarence but everyone called him 'Brick' because of his red hair.  I asked once why Brick and not Red, turns out one of his brothers was called Red.  I guess my daughter and granddaughter come by their red hair honestly.  I think my husband's parents were married in, or close to, 1920.  I know they had been married for 15 years before my husband was born and that was in 1935.  He was a child of the depression and I guess my mother-in-law was feeling that depression.  She told me once that when she was about 8 months along she had the thought that "this child will probably grow up to be a criminal, like Dillenger."  Happily he didn't. So today I'm saying thanks to Clarence for serving in WWI, and, more importantly, getting this whole family started.