Memorial Day - Missing My Dad

Amy Squires
1 min readMay 31, 2021
Sgt. Benjamin Squires, 1943

Thinking about my dad today on this first Memorial Day without him. My dad was one of those WWII heroes though he didn’t see it that way. He was just following orders, just doing his job.

He hated war, never wanted to glamorize it and always rebuffed those who did. He never liked to be thanked for his service, wanting instead to focus on those that never came home, they were the true heroes he’d say. While I hear him, I also know our world would be very different without these heroes.

I’m grateful every day that my dad climbed in that B24, took up his post as a tail gunner, flying backwards, Germany below him, the sky full of terror and planes, lost men and such incredible danger. He flew 17 missions before the war ended and he came home. So many didn’t come home, I honor them and I honor my dad, Sgt. Benjamin Squires. I miss you dad.

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Amy Squires

So many life changes. I write about this new, constant midlife-awakening buzz to create; turning 'stuck' into 'movement’; and my passion for animals.