It is
Memorial Day weekend, and time to remember those who have given their lives for
the cause of freedom and for their love of the United States of America. A friend taught me many years ago to say,
“Thank you for serving.” to each veteran or member of the armed services when I
meet them. This weekend, I met a Vietnam
War veteran who was receiving physical therapy in the Carroll Health Center,
Carrollton, OH. As I thanked him for serving, I realized anew the
ultimate in stewardship is demonstrated by those who have offered their lives,
or who have given “the last full measure of devotion” in service of their
country.
Memorial Day weekend also gives me the opportunity to remember my uncle, Glen
Silvius, whose birthday is May 19, 2011 (died, Dec. 15, 1997), who served his
country in World War II. “Uncle Shorty”
was among the courageous American GI”s who pressed forward from Normandy
through western Europe to bring freedom from the scourge of Nazism to the
war-torn landscapes and villages of France, Belgium, and Germany.
Even though, as a post-war, “baby boomer”, I never saw Uncle Shorty in a
uniform, his reputation as a soldier became evident to me in my pre-teen years
through books on his shelves, published by Hercules Engines Co. where he worked
before and after the war. Hercules
produced engines for military vehicles, and the company proudly published books
filled with photos from the war front to highlight their products in
action. Some of the photos left little
to my imagination with respect to the power unleashed in war.
Although Uncle Shorty seldom spoke of his service during WW II, I learned
indirectly that his life had been miraculously spared several times. As a young man in the 1920’s and 1930’s, he
had dreamed of traveling the world.
However, when he was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1945, Uncle Shorty
returned home and never traveled more than 100 miles from his farm home near
Dundee, OH.
During my preadolescent years, the closeness of my relationship with Uncle
Shorty was second only to that with my father, Uncle Shorty’s older
brother. My family’s farm home was an
extension that my father had added to his family home; and so, my Grandpa and
Grandpa Silvius and my Uncle Shorty lived in another part of the same house
until my graduation from high school.
Although Uncle Shorty’s chief employment was with Hercules in nearby Canton, OH,
he routinely assisted my dad and another, younger brother Ralph, with their
shared responsibilities of farming over 200 acres. As you can imagine, two and sometimes three
farmers who needed to decide how and when to do something made for some
interesting and heated exchanges. It
was not hard for me to imagine that Uncle Shorty had been a military man on
occasions when he felt that his was the right way to complete a job.
I thank God for what He taught me through Uncle Shorty. He and my dad both valued education greatly and
both were instrumental in encouraging me to attend college. When I came home from college, Dad looked
forward to hearing what I was learning in biology, chemistry, and math. Uncle Shorty’s interest in my progress was
no less than Dad’s , and when the three of us were together, I was challenged
to think carefully and to justify exactly why I was in college and where I
should go with my ‘higher education.’
Gradually, I sensed that these two men had great respect and love for
me, and a confidence that I could “make something of myself.”
In 1969, I completed my BA degree in science at Malone College, married
Alvadell Moser, and began a two-year period as a biology teacher at Dover High
School. During this time, our son,
Bradley was born, and we maintained close relationships with both the Silvius
and Moser families. Although my dad’s
profession of faith in Christ was evident through his public ministry as
superintendent at our local Methodist church and through the example he set for
me, my uncle’s profession of faith was a bit more subtle. Thankfully, the conversations between nephew
and uncle gradually reached a point where we could share in rather deep
conversations about the Person of God and His plan and purpose for each of
us. I believe Uncle Shorty did know and
personally accept the reality of salvation by faith in the Person of Christ.
Following this brief background, I would like to share a letter which Uncle
Shorty sent to me 20 years after I had entered graduate school at WVU. At this time, I was a professor of biology at
Cedarville University. I share his
letter below followed by my letter of thanks to him. May it be a post-humus thanks to a veteran
who served his country, and to a man that I consider a “rich uncle” in the
truest sense of the words.
Letter from Uncle Shorty (1991):
My letter of thanks to him:
Dear Uncle Shorty,
November
12, 1991
I got home this evening after dark at about 6:00pm.
I had just finished teaching a 3 hour lab in
botany in which we were sectioning and staining
Begonia stems and basswood (linden) twigs to study the stem
tissues.
So it was a real encouragement
to pull your letter out of the mail box.
It was quite a surprise to see the enclosed check.
This was a very generous gift to us and we
want to thank you in the words of this letter, and perhaps more significantly,
by our wise use of what you have given.
Brad worked two jobs this summer and is working nights now to pay on his
college expenses in addition to that which we provide.
Some of this will be used to help him and to
save for Mindy's college expense.
We
have had a series of replacements of appliances that have worn out in recent
months and are anticipating major repairs or replacement of our heat pump which
is about 16 years old.
We have been
praying that God would help us to know how to meet these expenses.
We have never really lacked for anything
good, and I believe God has provided these essentials.
I hope you have experienced a sense of
satisfaction and will be blessed by God for your kind assistance.
This is not the first time your gifts have been an encouragement to this
particular nephew.
I remember my first
wrist watch which was a gift from you. As I recall, you had to show me which
wrist to wear it on.
Much later, I
learned that it was partly by your encouragement that Dad purchased a used black
Volkswagen, my first car.
Then, when I
finished my graduate work at West Virginia University, you helped me to
purchase some nice shirts, ties, and sweaters.
Interestingly, I still wear the two sweaters around the house that I
bought at that time to teach in at University of Illinois.
I am sure that others of your nieces and nephews could think of many ways you
have helped them, too.
For my part, I
just want to say that, while it was not for you to have sons or daughters of
you own, you have had a large part in helping this nephew in a fatherly
way.
I hope your gift will help me to do
what is right in being a good husband, and good father as our two children are
going through transition to adulthood.
We hope to visit you on Thanksgiving or, more likely during Christmas
time.
It is a busy quarter for me with
the changes in our existing science building (this summer we had to move out
for installation of air conditioning), and the construction of a new addition
on the north side of the building.
You
would enjoy seeing this; wish you could come down and spend a few days.
It is a 3 story steel framework with brick
and glass, enclosing 60,000 sq. feet for our nursing and engineering programs
(mechanical and electrical).
I think your writing is still very good ; much better than mine most of the
time.
I have become spoiled by the
computer, and I hope you do not think this letter any less personal because it
is typed rather than handwritten.
I hope
you too are well and that you are at peace with God and yourself.
Thanks for the part you have had in my life,
and may God bless you.
