Hero

My grandfather is dying.  I find that I am unable to collect my thoughts well enough to adequately explain why he is so respected by his family, at his church, and in his community.  There will be time for that later, with a few stories selected from hundreds.

James Baker

For now, here are the thoughts of children who wrote to him last week.  These are children whom my grandpa visited in their classroom and to whom he told his story of military service to the United States in World War II.  These children have never known a time without mobile phones, and he told them about about dogs trained to run communications wire over rough terrain.  He showed them a pair of wooden skis he restored, identical to the ones he used to traverse the Italian Alps in the 10th Mountain Division.  He showed them his medals.  He told them about trenches, tanks, mortars, being shot at, and being shot.  He showed them patriotism.  For thirteen years he has visited these children, and when they were told that he would not be returning again, they wrote letters and sent hand-made cards decorated with construction paper Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, and United States Flags.  Here are a few of them.

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Dear Mr. Baker,

Wow, it seems like yesturday I was shaking your hand and thanking you for fighting for our freedom.

I remember in the year of 2009 you came into [our] classroom and we were told that you are the only WW2 veteran.  You were one of the veterans that helped me fold the flag.

Mr. Baker you have taught and shown me so much about what is going on everyday of our lives that we may not see.

I don’t want to see you go away so quickly.  I’m sorry very sorry that a good man like you has to leave this earth so quickly.  Thank you Mr. Baker for standing up for our Country.  You make me Proud!

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Dear Mr. Baker,

To a veteran who participated in the second World War 2 that I wanted to honor and say thank you for everything you have done for us.  You are the best hero I’ve ever met.  I felt so lucky to be able to shake your hand and look into your eyes and thank you for everything you did, but when I did it immediantly brought tears to my eyes… knowing that I met the strongest man was a great pleasure.

Leaving your friends and family to serve in WW2 means more than anything.  Thank you for coming to [our] school and sharing your wonderful stories with us.

You are loved by Many people and you will Never be forgotten.

I was amazed that I was able to meet someone who made such a big impact on us.

Always,

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Dear: Mr Baker

I want to thank you for your Heroic serves, thank you for giving your life too this country so that we can live in a safe and free country that we live in today.  I remember when you came into class, and talked about your exspeance in the war of WWII.  And you made me feel like I was in the war and I got to exspeance what it felt like to get shot at and having to keep cover in the trences.

I hope that this letter brout some warth to you hart.

Love,

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Dear Mr. Baker,

You probably don’t remember me by heart, but I remember you like the back of my hand!  Thank you so much for coming to our school and talking about your life and the memories you had in WWII.  You made such a HUGE impact on our school and community.  You are so brave for what you have done for our country and I Thank you thouroughly for your support!  You have such a BIG heart and the stories you told to us are so heart-warming to me.  I pray everyday for you and no matter how high the tides get for you, god is going to take you to a better place where theres a special place for Heros of America.  I thank you for your service and wish you the very, very best.

Love,

P.S. you are loved by many people who are thankful for your service

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One thought on “Hero

  1. The humbling realization about Jim and his service to others, is that he doesn’t consider himself a hero. He has always felt that his actions toward others are “just the right thing to do”. That is something we can all apply in our daily lives.

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