Whenever Mother and Dad had an argument, usually in bed at night, Mother had a litany of offenses Dad had been guilty of in the past. She never forgave him and she certainly never forgot. First on the list was when Dad punched Mother's brother, Uncle Johnny, in the nose and knocked him down. The second offense was the one I will now describe. Dad was officially listed as AWOL at the end of World War l. That sounds worse than what it was. I will explain.

Dad had enlisted in the Marines in 1918. He was still in basic training near San Francisco, California, at Mare Island. The armistice had been signed November 11, 1918. The trainees were lined up on the parade grounds and given the following speech: “The war is over. However, it will take several months to process your return to civilian life. You have two choices. Either stay for that process or leave now. There will be no consequences. The choice is yours.”

My dad had enlisted with his cousin. Ross was there, too. They decided to leave, but not for home. Neither of them believed the part of being no backlash for going AWOL. They would hide out until they felt safe to return home. The two of them made their way to Mountain Home, Idaho where they found work on a sheep ranch.

Neither were cut out to herd sheep. They both learned it was not their calling. Ross gave up first and headed for home. When there were no repercussions, Dad followed. They both lived in fear for a while that the Marine Corp would hunt them down. They were wrong. It had been a ruse to avoid paying future benefits to these almost veterans.

No doubt the authorities will say that was not so, but my dad and Ross believed it. He was never proud of going AWOL but it happened when he was just a kid. He did what he thought was best for him at the time. There was one person who did not agree with him - Mother. She delighted in throwing it up to him in her Litany of Shame. He would respond to the bait and the argument was off and running. There would be another sleepless night for my brothers and me.

It is easy to find fault with Dad's decision. Hindsight is like that. But what would you have done in the same situation? Being a young farm boy with no experience in the world, Dad did the best he could. He was not a Sargent York in the heat of battle. He was just homesick and a long ways from home. Not cut out to be a soldier, the farm was calling. Dad answered the call.