Pappaw was a Seabee in World War II in the Pacific. During all the time I was growing up, he never talked much about his military service. As his disease progressed and his memory got worse, he talked more about his time in the war. I think it's because those memories were embedded more permanently than other, less significant things. It was interesting to hear him tell his stories once he opened up.
He was also a great human being. He was one of the most compassionate people I have ever known and kept his negative opinions of people, if he had any, to himself. When conversations would turn to criticism of someone, his standard phrase was "It sure is a pretty day." He was very good at saving money, but would generously lend from his savings if someone needed financial help. Not as a free gift most of the time, but as a loan that would be paid back. He provided me and a handful of other young twenty-somethings a job when we were still learning how to be men. These jobs would sometimes include helping people with manual labor who could not do the work themselves. He was the kind of Christian man that inspires me to be a better Christian man.
I have no doubt that he was welcomed into heaven. Not because of the man he was, but because of the man Jesus was. And I have no doubt that a standing ovation took over God's throne room when he arrived.
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