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V
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eterans Day marks a year since the members of
American Legion Post 6 found a new home in a sun-filled
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chapelhillmagazine.com
November 2021
building just west of Carrboro where veterans and their families can gather, enjoy camaraderie and swap stories with one another. To commemorate the day, we interviewed four service members, ranging in age from 33-year-old Tony Garcia, who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, to Elmer Hughes, who served in WWII and turned 100 in March. Read about them starting on page 38. I knew I wanted to recognize service members after losing one of my own heroes last year. My grandfather, who served 32 years in the Marine Corps, died a year ago the night before Thanksgiving. He worked at the American Embassy in Spain and Burma, and was wounded during the Vietnam War and awarded the Purple Heart. He later trained the young cadets in the Navy ROTC program at Yale. When the commandant of the Marine Corps asked him where he wanted to serve his last tour, he requested to return to the Marine Security Guard program at Quantico. The job meant traveling to American Embassies around the world to check the security systems; he visited 118 in those three years before his retirement. I knew nothing of his time in the military for most of my life – he was Poppy to me, the grandfather who built me a backyard playhouse and sewed on every one of my Girl Scout badges. I’m immensely proud of his career and life, and I wish I had asked him more questions. The day after this issue goes to press, my family is due to gather for his belated memorial service at Quantico National Cemetery, not five minutes from my grandparents’ house. It will be a very real reminder of the sacrifices of the men and women of our military and of how grateful I am for them. CHM T HE COVER P h o to by J o h n Mic ha el Sim pson