Only my dad’s left from the people in this photo. He made it through those hard times, my grandparents managed to scrape up enough to send him to the University of Kansas and he eventually earned a medical degree. He married his high school sweetheart, served in the U.S. Navy as ship’s doctor aboard an amphibious assault troop transport — and my mom and I followed him into base housing in San Diego while he was overseas. We eventually returned to Kansas City, where my dad first established his medical practice. But, a proud veteran, proud of our country, he went back to the service after he retired — screening young recruits for all branches of the military at a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) in New Mexico.