The Greatest Generation

Grew up hard
Got his ass kicked daily by his mean spirited dad
Never knew why
But he kept going back for more

Working hard on the farm
Chores were his playtime
Yelling was his music
His momma was his hero

Grew up fast and never learned how to love
Grew up Angry and acted out
Stole a sheepskin to buy some candy
He ate too much and got really sick

His daddy found out he took his skin
His daddy took it out in my daddy's skin
Dad said it was worth it ,just another day
He was treated the same either way

By now he's tough and joined the Army
He joined at 16 and lied about his age
My dad was a badass and learned to fight
Army boxer before he went off to war

Corregidor was his Phillipine station
After Pearl Harbor he's was left for capture
Japanese men took him away
He was a POW for 3 1/2 years

Living in a coal mine prison
Rice and bread and little water
He survived on guts and his childhood abuses
The little man would no give up

I shall return MACARTHUR said
When he did so many left dead
The Japanese tortured our troops
Over worked  and under fed

My dad told me he was the healthiest man
When he was liberated at 87lbs.
So much death and so much destruction
The atomic bombs brought my dad home

Working class man met the working class wife
Children and a normal life
My dad had suffered from PTSD
Long before it was even a thing

My dad did love the way he could
Always compensating for his own childhood
He drank and smoked and loved to fight
My dad was a badass at 5 foot 5

By the time I came around finances changed
I got the things my siblings didn't
He tried so hard to make life better
He drank away his first 50 years

We lost our dad at 62
The last 12 years were incredible
He watched our games both near and far
And never got to meet his grandson!

The greatest generation is what it is
My dad was a part of it all and learned to give
Real life perspective and M&M's
Never forgetting your sacrifice and pains

We miss you dad and your radio
Dodger baseball and Vin Scully
songs you would sing while playing the guitar
Twinkle twinkle little star!