My dad passed away last week - Ret. M/Sgt. Peter Smiljanich. He was just a few days shy of his 90th birthday and was fairly healthy until the very end - stubborn as a mule but willing to do anything for you. He died peacefully in his apartment in Cedar Park, TX, with his wife, three adopted children, four grandkids, and a brand new great-granddaughter (one week old) at his side. He was buried this week at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery just south of Killeen, with full military honors by an Air Force color guard from Randolph. It was the saddest "Taps" I ever heard played. Dad was part of the "Greatest Generation." A life time of service in the military, six bronze stars, a purple heart, two air medals and a Presidential Unit Citation for his actions as a B-26 tail gunner over German and occupied France, service in Japan during the Korean War, and stationed just outside the Soviet Union at a Turkish air base during the Cold War. The man in charge of the veteran's cemetery told me that the WWII generation is dying at the rate of 1800 per day. In my dad's old bomber squadron, he was only one of three still alive.Not a bad life for a guy who dropped out of high school and rode the rails during the Depression before joining the Army Air Corps in January, 1941 (11 months before Pearl Harbor).
Let's never forget the sacrifices of our parent's generation.
Love,
Terry Smiljanich '65
tsmiljan@aol.com
tsmiljanich@jameshoyer.com
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