Rocky,
It's hard for you guys to talk about it & understandably so. Dad's pre-war
Army memories were in his comfort zone so he could talk a bit about
training, the Field Artillery, hikes, or the rifle range (he didn't earn a
rifle sharpshooter badge, but he got marksman). We didn't understand
that if he talked about the war, he'd start reliving things in his mind.
As children, we didn't know that behind his eyes was a world we couldn't
enter & he couldn't explain.
The few times he said anything, we had no clue what it meant.
I asked him once about landing on the beachhead & he shook his head
and said: "I wasn't in the first wave". Huh? We had no idea
what a "wave" meant. Now I realize he believed the heroes
were in the first wave of LSTs onto the beach.
Eventually I came to realize that ,though he was careful to hide it, the
war was always in there with him. When my Dad was sick & in the hospital,
I'd go to visit him before work, lunch hour, after work, and often through the night.
My mother was also usually there around the clock. This particular day at lunch
she wasn't there and, as the elevator doors opened on his floor, I heard him
yelling my name all the way down the corridor: "Mary Ann! MARY ANN!".
(I haven't thought of this in a long time & I have a lump in my throat as I tell it now).
I RAN, yelling "Im coming Daddy!" at the top of my lungs. When I got to his room,
the nurses were just changing the sheets of his bed& he'd become disoriented. As soon as he saw me, his expression
changed from fear & he said: "Thank God you're here, dear! I thought they were going to
take me out & shoot me". I said: "No Daddy, and I'm here with you now & I won't let
ANYTHING happen to you!". A few minutes later, he fell peacefully asleep.
I needed & wanted to do SOMETHING for my father - to get the chance to show him
I loved him, to be there for HIM (and not the other way around). I believe the Lord
gave me that chance & many others (what were the odds that I'd walk out of the elevator
at that moment?). I tell you this too, because you guys are so incredibly strong
and you got that strength from all you've done & all you've been through. Your kids &
grandkids see it & admire it (as I did in my Father) & ask questions because - they're looking
to be close to you, to get to love you. It's also sort of the natural thing when someone
has a "wound" to say "where does it hurt?" and asking for your stories is an attempt
to take any pain you have away.
I was so blessed to have Francis for my father - as I'm sure Rocky Jr & all your children
feel about you. One of the things I treasure most is that my dad came to know
how much I loved HIM. Don't forget now, that your kids & grandkids want that chance
and - even though you may not know it - they're looking for any opportunity to let you know it.
Tell Rocky Jr that I thank him very much for his service. Good men must run in the Rojas
family! 
Mary Ann