Larry Garrett and his three brothers - Alan, Jack, and George - are all war veterans. Larry was the youngest of all the brothers and he went in to World War II back in 1940 one year after (sic) it started. His brother, Alan, went into the war right before him and his other brother, Jack, also went into the war. George did not go until the Vietnam War.

In the war they worked along side each other. They were put in the same areas for the war. My grandpa Larry told me about the time that one day during WWII when he was in battle and his brother Alan had been shot in the leg. Luckily it just missed the artery, but he couldn't walk on it. My grandfather had to fashion a splint out of some cloth that he had in his pocket and a long, thick piece of wood that he found near to make a temporary splint for Alan.

It was a hard and rough time for them during World War II, but they all three survived it. Years later they were called back to serve in the Vietnam War. All four brothers were called to the war. This time would be different because this time all four of them would be sent to different spots. Larry was in Vietnam, Jack was in Korea, George was in Thailand and Alan was in Taiwan.

My grandpa always said that it was hard to have family on the other side of the world in different countries because you never knew what could happen. You would never know until it was too late. He also recalls one time that he had heard [Page 9] that Korea was under attack and that a lot of soldiers had died and he was worried about his brother. The next day he wrote Jack a letter and mailed it hoping for a response from Jack. A few weeks went by he said and he still heard nothing, so he assumed the worst. The day he was released from the war Larry caught up with Alan and George. He asked, "Did Jack make it? I heard that they were under attack in Korea and that a lot of people had died." The others didn't know.

And as my Grandpa tells it, he heard a voice from behind him and he couldn't tell at first, but it was coming from one of the boats dropping off soldiers who were coming back from the war. He kept looking and then he saw him. He saw Jack. Once Jack got off the boat Larry and Jack both hugged for what seemed like forever, as my grandpa puts it, and he couldn't have been happier that his brother was safe and sound.

Photographs courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2017