My great-great-great Grandfather Levi Ashbrook served in the Revolutionary War. My great-Grandfather Aaron Ashbrook served in the Civil War on the Union side, as did his brothers, one of whom died as a result. My Grandfather Roy Wilson Ashbrook served in the US Army in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines and lost an eye there. He then went on to train soldiers for WWI. My uncle Roy served in the Army in the Battle of the Bulge and had frostbite as a result. He then went on to serve in the Army of Occupation in Japan. My uncle Ed Allatt was a bomber pilot in the Mediterranean and had two planes shot out from under him and had to ditch in the water. My father was a pilot ferrying supplies to Australia for the Navy in unescorted, and unarmed planes. My first husband, Mike, was a Captain in the Canadian Army, serving in Korea and in the Congo under the UN. My husband, Bill, made his career in the Air Corps for 22 years. David, my son, was in the Navy for 12 year. And I almost forgot my great-grandfather Searles who served as a drummer boy for the Union in the Civil War.
To all of them - Thank you.