My favorite veteran is my grandfather, a.k.a. Dad Dog. I know, I know. That one needs a little bit of explaining:
I’m the first grandchild on both sides of the family, and when I was born I had three sets of grandparents (my mom’s parents were divorced and both re-married), as well as a set of great-grandparents still living. Being the long-awaited first grandchild, I spent a lot of time with grandparents.
The decision was made to come up with different names for all four sets to avoid confusion, and to help me learn who was who. At the time my paternal grandfather was caring for some puppies, and once referred to himself as their Daddy Dog.
The name mostly stuck. It became Dog, then Dad Dog for me, Daddy Dog for my sister, and Daddy Duck for my cousin (he was caring for orphaned ducks when she was little). I know it sounds odd, but it works for our family.
In addition to caring for a wide variety of animals over the years, Dad Dog also served in the Army and Air Force (once the two became separate) until his retirement. I grew up listening to his war stories.
Once again, Happy Veteran’s Day.
