I is for Irwin

There once was a man named Irwin
Fort Riley named their hospital for him
A good man, I would say
Building’s still there today
[can you finish my limerick for me?]

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I’ll be honest. I have zero recollection of our family’s time in Ft. Riley, Kansas.

This photo was taken 8-9 months AFTER that move.

I was 6 weeks old when we moved from Ft. Knox to Ft. Riley. My father had gone on ahead and my mother had essentially done the move by herself.

Of course, I had no idea about any of that until 50 years later. I had asked my mother many times about what I was like as a baby. She had always dodged the question — which made me think I must have been a fussy baby. One day, though, she said, “That was a terrible time,” and she went on to talk a little bit about that move.

I think the military does stuff like that — insensitive to the service-person’s family. They’re getting better though. I’ve followed this story: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98kn1k3nreo about a young wife arrested and taken from her new husband when he was trying to get her settled in base housing. She had come into the country illegally when she was 22 months old and had been working through the paperwork.

Clearly NOT the “worst of the worst.”

After being taken away in handcuffs and held five days in a detention center, she was released. She has been fitted with an ankle monitor and told to report to ICE every week.

I’m proud that my father served in the military. I’m not always proud of what our country is doing today and think it would be a hard time to serve.