WWIi vet. Born in the sticks and could barely read but worked his butt off and made sure all his kids were better off than he was. Saddest thing I ever saw was the day my dad and his siblings removed his guns from the house because he was nearly blind and they thought he was an accident waiting to happen. He looked at me and said "how can I protect my family". He was 93 and pretty much done at that point mentally and physically and I know it was the right thing to do.... But even then all he thought about was his duty to his family.

And he was a bad a$$. He was a coal miner and was exempt from the draft.... But his supervisor was using the deferment as a weapon in the mines so my grandfather busted him in the mouth. He joked that his draft notice beat him home. He told me it was worth it and he'd do it again. That stubborn gene runs strong in our family.

Some of my favorite memories from college were going down to see him on weekends, they lived in Tazewell, and listening to his stories. It felt like no one had ever spent the time to sit and listen to him and after I joined the Army he would tell me all kinds of stories that no in the family had ever heard.

My son proudly carries his name.