This is the story of a man who was both ordinary and extraordinary in that he was willing to put his life on the line for his country and his family. That man was Rex A. Moore, my father and my hero.
On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,500 of our American men and women and wiping out our Pacific fleet.
The next day, Dad drove Mom and me down to the recruiting office in Gary, got out of the car, jumped in line and enlisted in the Army, in spite of my mother's fear and objection.
I was 31/2 years old and did not understand everything that was happening, but I do remember the line of men. It seemed like hundreds.
So off he went, with Mother crying and not knowing if we would ever see him again. The odds were not good.
In boot camp, he was told of a new division called the paratroopers, and if you could make it through the tough training and become one, you would receive an extra $50 per month.
It didn't matter that you had to jump out of an airplane in enemy territory under heavy gunfire, that some of your buddies would be killed in the plane before they could even jump out, and that if you fortunate enough to land without breaking any bones, you might be on your own in enemy territory, surrounded by Germans waiting to kill you.
Didn't matter! What did matter was that Dad could send home an extra $50 a month to his wife and son so they could get by a little better.
So he was one of the first to become a member of the new 101st Airborne.
In boot camp, he met a man who became a buddy from Arizona who had the same last name. His full name was Robert A. Moore.
In order to make the 101st Airborne, you had to make it through tremendously tough training and the final requirement was a night jump.
It so happened that Robert A. Moore was very ill that night and if he couldn't make the jump, he was out!
I was told by others -- not my father -- that Dad got on the plane, stating he was R.A. Moore (standing for Rex A. Moore), made the jump, got another chute, climbed on another plane, said he was R.A. Moore and jumped again for his buddy, Robert A. Moore. They were pals all through the war and after.
Dad's military achievements began in Normandy, where the 101st Airborne jumped behind enemy lines before the actual invasion.
After that, it was on to Holland and the fiasco called "Market Garden," led by British General Montgomery.
Next they hauled Dad and the 101st Airborne to the Ardennes Forest, where they ended up jumping right into the middle of a crack German Panzer Division that no one knew about.
Possibly the most famous battle of World War II was the Battle of the Bulge, where the 101st was surrounded but refused to surrender.
It was December and below-zero weather, but the 101st held out in their foxholes for weeks.
Then came the famous response by Gen. Anthony McAuliffe when the Germans ordered them to surrender: "Nuts!"
From there, it was the Battle of the Rhine River, in Germany.
Finally, in 1946, Dad returned to us and built a home.
It was a small house and he wasn't much of a carpenter, but after what he had been through, trying to build a home wasn't a big deal.
Dad worked at the Post Office for more than 30 years and led quite a life. I never heard him speak badly of anyone.
Everyone who knew him liked him. He never spoke of the war and was content with his life with my mother, whom he truly loved.
They are both gone now, but never forgotten.
Veterans Day means little to many people and much to the rest of us. Many do not even pay attention or care about the two wars we are involved in unless they have someone over there.
There will never be a highway or monument named after Dad.
You have to be a politician to receive that honor, but if not for the thousands of veterans like my dad, we would not have many of the comforts we take for granted, even though the economy is tough at the moment.
So on Veterans Day, think about the sacrifices others have made to allow us to become the nation we are!
Elkhart resident Charles Moore retired from the U.S. Postal Service after 38 years as a carrier.