My birth father, joining the Navy, February 1942

This Veteran’s Day I’m thankful for one veteran in particular, my birth father, Clinton Kenneth McCourt.

After Pearl Harbor in Dec 1941, he like many of his generation, answered the call of the nation and joined the Navy a few months later, serving in the Philippines.

Before I’d learned my birth father’s name, I’d suspected he might have fought in World War 2. I knew he would have been about the right age.

And now I know.

There is still so much about my birth father I don’t know. So much I will never know.

I am thankful for how much I do know about him now. A month ago, I didn’t even know his name, so everything I discover, every little kernel of information I learn, is a gift.

Happy Veteran’s Day, to the veterans I know and the ones I’ve yet to discover.