Hats off to my favorite uncle and WW II vet, Leo Woodside. Uncle Leo was a Navy man and served in the Pacific for most of the war. He was my mother’s older brother who along with my grandmother jumped into the breech when my mother suddenly died for which I will be forever grateful.
I remember him proudly marching with other vets on Memorial Day and receiving the applause of people lining the sidewalk in our small town in Maine. For young and old, and especially the vets, it was a festive and solemn occasion, complete with the playing of taps and a gun salute. For me and my friends, not yet teenagers, it was an opportunity for us to weave our bikes in and out of the parade and enjoy ice cream and candy.
