A Family at War Through the Years

My family has a tradition of militarism, which I oppose. From what I have documented, we can go back to my 4X great grandfather's service as a foot-soldier in the Revolution.

We jump to the 1860s and my great grandfather Oliver McCourry (and his three brothers) who enlisted in the Confederate army as a grunt. He was captured and chose to fight for the Union out west over going to prison.

I don't think my grandfather George Washington Smith fought in WWI because he was a family man with a successful residential construction business. I was told as a kid that his brothers fought in France.

My dad, however, enlisted as a 1st Lt. (because he graduated from Virginia Tech, a military school then) in WWII and became head of a munitions depot in Bremerton, WA. He wanted to be a career officer, but circumstances would not permit that.

I was not drafted during Vietnam, my generation's war, because of a football knee. I thought then and hope now that I would have resisted the draft.

My son had no war (unless you count Bosnia, which professional soldiers fought) and now my grandgirl, Mac, is facing a fight for our country's very survival with the Trump Administration. Her war is not likely to be as bloody as the others, but it is no less crucial.

My 4X Great Grandfather, Oliver McCourry, fought for both sides in the Civil War.