To the Editor:
I want to thank Bert Combra for sharing Bill Faria Jr.’s letter with us (“A son honors his father,” August 31). What a trip down memory lane it took me. I worked for a long time with Bill Faria Sr. when I was bookkeeper at Our Market.
When Bill had x-rays for free at the hospital, they called the store looking for him because the x-rays showed something. When he came back from lunch, we asked him what happened. “Oh yeah, I know what they found, I have shrapnel in my chest.” We urged him to tell us what happened. He said that on Pork Chop Hill in Korea, the Chinese had overrun the hill. To save his life after he was wounded, he crawled into a bunker with a lot of dead soldiers and played dead even when he got kicked around by the Chinese. Wow! How does anyone get through that? We knew that Bill had earned the Purple Heart; however, Bill never said that he had earned the Bronze Star.
From what I understand, the Bronze Star is awarded for courage, heroism, and meritorious service in a combat theater. Like my nephew said, “Real hero’s don’t boast about it.” I guess we don’t really know what our brave men and women go through when they have been in battle.
These people will take a bullet for us, and too many come home minus one, two, or three of their limbs, along with mental injuries that make them different people. And the hidden injuries they will not talk about.
Thank you, Bill Faria Jr., for my walk down memory lane, and letting us all know what a hero your father was. It was a pleasure knowing your parents. God bless you, and thank you for your service.
Diane Leonard
Tisbury
