Five Brothers Answered the Call

As Veterans Day approaches, I find myself looking through family photographs and remembering the men in my family who answered the call to serve this country. Some of their stories have been preserved in photographs and family scrapbooks. Others survive through memories passed from one generation to the next.

Military service runs through my family's history. My father was the youngest of 10 children, seven boys and three girls. As my first cousin Nancy Leeds McLemore recently pointed out, five of those seven boys served: my uncles Louis (Ab), Jimmie, Johnnie, George and Jesse Leeds.

My aunt Ellen met and married Zean Gideo, a soldier stationed at Camp Gruber. On my maternal side, my mother's brother, John Lamb, was a Navy photographer for more than 20 years. My aunt Teresa married and later lost her first husband during World War II. She went on to marry Melvin Harris, a career Air Force serviceman. Many cousins on both sides of my family have also served, and younger generations are currently serving in the U.S. military.

The Leeds family's "Off to War" scrapbook page. Left, from top: Jimmie and Goldie; Johnnie and Sissy; Zean on Shemya in the Aleutian Islands, 1946. Bottom: Ab and George. Right, from top: Johnnie and Mama; Jimmie and Nina; Jesse and Sissy. Courtesy of Nancy Leeds McLemore.

Nancy has helped preserve much of our family history. She is one of the cousins who spent more time with our Leeds grandparents than I did, and she has taken on the role of family historian, recording stories told to her by her father, mother, grandmother, and our aunts and uncles. My cousin Jimmy Richard Leeds also spent more time with our grandparents and has shared memories of his father's military service. Jimmy Richard himself served in the Army Reserve from 1966 to 1972.

Unfortunately, much of our family history was never written down. We depend on the memories of older relatives, photographs and the stories they took the time to share. As those generations grow older, preserving what they remember becomes increasingly important.

One of those stories belongs to my uncle Jimmie Leeds, whose son Jimmy Richard shared his father's wartime experience with me.

Jimmie served in the Army and completed basic training near San Diego, California. During training, he broke his leg. Although he had not completely recovered, he was allowed to board a ship and continue healing during the journey to an island airfield. According to his son's recollection, he remained stationed there for three years.

His only brush with enemy action came when a Japanese plane, which the family remembers as a Zero, dropped a bomb on the runway.

Not every military story involves major battles or the kind of combat accounts we read in history books. Some service members spent years at remote installations, maintaining and protecting military operations.

There were lighter moments, too. One of Uncle Jimmie's fellow servicemen reportedly made moonshine from fruit found in the jungle and sold it to soldiers passing through the airfield.

After returning home, Jimmie went into farming.

It is a short account of a young man's military service, but it is part of our family's history and deserves to be remembered.

Other family photographs tell more stories. Nancy has shared photographs of her father, my uncle Johnnie Leeds, in uniform and written about his connection to the 45th Infantry Division, known as the Thunderbird Division. Her account describes how the division earned its reputation in World War II, fighting through Sicily and Italy.

Johnnie Leeds in uniform, wearing the Thunderbird patch of the 45th Infantry Division.

These photographs are more than old family pictures. They are reminders of young men who left their homes, parents, wives and children to serve, often without knowing when or if they would return.

Veterans Day itself has a history worth remembering. On November 11, 1918, an armistice took effect between Germany and the Allied nations at 11 a.m., ending the fighting on the Western Front in World War I. One year later, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first observance of Armistice Day. In 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day, expanding the observance to honor American veterans of all wars.

We must remember that the men and women serving in our military, whether on the front lines, behind desks, in kitchens, maintaining equipment or caring for wounded service members, all contribute to the mission. We can question government decisions to enter a war, disagree with its conduct and demand accountability from those who make those decisions. But we should never confuse those decisions with the service of the people ordered to carry them out.

To my younger second, third and fourth cousins who have enlisted and are serving today, you have my admiration and respect. Thank you for choosing to serve this country.

This Veterans Day, I will remember my uncles, my cousins and the generations of military families who came before them. I hope we continue sharing those stories with our children and grandchildren.

Family history is more than names and dates. It is the lives people lived, the choices they made and the memories they left behind. Sometimes, all we have is an old photograph and a story told by someone who remembers.

Those stories are worth keeping.