John Frederick Hale, 1920–1996, in flight gear in 1943

My dad was my hero, of course, but growing up in a military family, I learned that all the dads were the same, and that meant a certain kind of life for all of us in the family. My father’s brother, uncle, and cousin were also military men, and his cousin lost his life in a plane over France in 1944. Though our family did not have to endure long deployments during wartime as the current military families do, there were plenty of scary times and a certain constant anxiety to military life during the Cold War—the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the U-2 spy plane incident all happened in a short several-year period, followed by Vietnam. My sympathies were taken by the anti-war sentiment of the time, setting me up for conflict within my family, no doubt reminiscent of the conflicts faced by my Quaker forebears whose religious beliefs kept them from participation in the military. It was a paradox in my life that I have struggled with to this day.
I recognize also the heroes who were our country’s early settlers—farmers, tradesmen, and skilled workers whose contributions to the development of this nation and its government cannot be discounted. My ancestors were all people from some other country, who decided to put their trust and the lives of their families and successors in our developing democracy, and often gave their lives and their bodies to ensure the success of that dream. Many of them served in the military, and others served in different ways.
Despite my misgivings over the military conflicts our country has entered into, I recognize the sacrifices made by all our soldiers and their families, and respect their contributions to the ideals of preserving democracy, ensuring civil rights, and giving humanitarian aid to the people of other countries engaged in political, religious, and racial struggles of their own. They are all heroes in my eyes.

I used the kits by Digilicious Designs: Always and Forever, and Allegro, with some elements from the Studio collab Blueberry Picnic. The alpha/titling is my own.

Fonts Bambi Bold, Honey Script