Veteran’s Day 2026

My eldest brother, Craig, will on occasion turn out a piece of writing that impresses me. I present the one below as it aligns with my own feelings. For I too am a veteran. Not a veteran of military service, but a veteran of public service.

 In my post Humility and Grace, dated 12/15/2010 I mused about my personal arrogance, and my mother's lesson to "wait" (wait is a verb), and that we are called to wait on each other with humility and grace. These are the veterans of public service.

 My brother writes of the traditional Veteran's Day and the members of our family that have or are currently serving in the armed forces. It is an honorable list.

 Current Generation 

    

  My son Isaac with his wife and 3 children. Yes! This is the same angry Isaac I wrote about in Zonked: Torrey Pines Revisited, dated 06/22/2019. 

My Son-in-Law Lorenzo with his husband and with his parents.

   

My nephew Matt with his wife and 4 children.

Veteran’s Day 2026 – Craig Groschup

 Webster’s (Online) Dictionary:

-        1) a former member of the armed forces 

-        2) a person of long experience usually in some occupation or skill 

This morning I sat in church distracted by the idea of Veteran’s Day and thinking of what it actually means to me.

What is a veteran, and who in my family is a veteran? Webster’s Dictionary provides us with two definitions, the first of which is most common, but the second just as important.

Personally, I do not fall under the first definition, but I had two careers that would fall under the second definition. I was a lifeguard/swim instructor/lifeguard trainer for over twenty years. I was also an elementary school educator for over twenty-five years. So, for over forty-five years I served the people, especially children, of my community.

This morning though, my focus was not on my service, but on Webster’s first definition of ‘Veteran’ and those who fell/fall into that category. I read this morning a proud message from a high school friend about her father who served in the U.S. Marines for thirty-seven years, during post WWII, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. This really got me thinking about my own family and wondering about how many of them were or are military veterans.

Do I truly know who (family or friends) actually served? Do I know who actually died in service to our country? This is where my mind began to wander this morning….

I grew up and lived in the City of Oceanside for almost sixty years. Oceanside proudly supports the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base in southern California. My father had been a Marine based out of Camp Pendleton during the Korean War and met my mother in Oceanside. I was aware of many schoolmates whose fathers were in the military, but not aware of many of the challenges they faced growing up. I was aware of the many negative views about the military conflicts and the local Marines and grew up without the desire to be part of the military. Many years later I would become the proud father of a U.S. Sailor.

Who were/are the Military Veterans in my life? This is where I truly began to drift away in thought today and at other times in my life. I’m not sure, and this frustrates me. I don’t believe that our family for at least the past four generations, luckily, has lost any members to military conflicts.

- My mother’s father served as an Army Chaplin during WWII and thankfully was not in a conflict zone.

- My father Eric (Marine), his brother Joe (Marine), and his cousin Jesse (Army?) all served during the Korean War, but I don’t believe they actually saw conflict.

My wife’s grandfather Robert (Marine/Army?) died while serving during the Korean War.

- Other than my Uncle Jack (Army), I don’t know of any of my family being involved in the Vietnam/Post Vietnam conflicts. My wife’s fathers, Robert (AirForce) and William (Navy?) also served at this time.

- This being my generation, I’m not sure who served. My cousin John was in the Navy. My cousin Daniel was in the Army. Were there others? I don’t know. Extended family communication was poor, hence some frustrations for me. My wife’s brother Chris was in the Air Force.

- Now we proudly look at the next generation. Our son Matthew is active duty Navy, having served for seventeen years. His wife Hannah served in the Navy as well. Our nephew Issac is currently serving in the Army.       

I’m sure there are many more Veterans in our family, but I just don’t know. I am proud of my family and all those who chose to serve their country in one branch or another of the United States Military.

I am truly grateful to all those who have chosen to defend our country, be they active duty, retired veteran, deceased warrior, and their families who support them at home. I am also grateful to those first responders (active and retired); law enforcement, fire fighter, medical, and lifeguard, who protect our citizens daily. Lastly, I am also truly grateful to those educators (active and retired) who support the future generations of this country.