{Frank Nelson}
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More about Frank through the eyes of his daughter: Born in 1919 Frank was the fourth of seven children. An eye condition rendered him cross-eyed from birth, and he began using thick eye glasses from age two. Frank quickly learned his mother was his closest ally when jokes and jeers were aimed his direction. Despite the tug of her attention to multiple children, Frank’s mother tenderly gave him a special measure of love that has equipped him for ninety-one years and counting.
Following a church revival meeting one night, Frank approached his mother about salvation, and she led him to the Lord at the tender age of nine. In that profound event she equipped Frank for his future without her presence. . . . She died only four months later after giving birth to a seventh child. He was devastated, and “life” as he had known it changed forever. The family dispersed, and children were divided among relatives. Frank was the only child “unspoken for,” so he remained at home with his father who worked for a trucking company. The two of them carved out a new life together.
Dad has many animated stories about growing up in Henderson, North Carolina, working as a youth in a grocery store, high jumping for the track team and enlisting in the army when World War II broke out. You can decide how long you want to be entertained with this chapter of stories.
His military service was extremely unique. The eye condition is a theme that emerges throughout the experience because Frank was not technically qualified to shoot a gun or serve overseas. You simply must inquire about the humorous story of how the US Army qualified him as a “sharp shooter” while firing an M1 automatic rifle resting on the wrong shoulder because he knew he couldn’t see out of his right eye. His collection of army photos even verifies the experience.
Frank’s specialized army unit consisted of phone operators and cable splicers who were trained to follow behind General Patton and re-establish communication in areas of recent destruction. President Eisenhour was the direct boss of Dad’s army unit.
Following the war Frank returned home to marry Dorothy (Dot) to whom he had written a letter every single day while he was overseas. (He even numbered the letters so she could put them in sequential order if the mail arrived untimely!) They began marriage in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in student housing at University of North Carolina. Frank was one of the grateful, GRATEFUL soldiers who benefitted from the GI Bill of Rights for a college education. He never forgot his humble roots and limited financial resources that would have otherwise prevented him from even dreaming of a college education. He made straight As at UNC, earned Phi Beta Kappa academic honors and became a respected Certified Public Accountant.
Given your interest in interviewing World War II veterans, my brothers and I sincerely seek your gifted journalism to preserve Dad’s story . . . but his legacy impacts our family far, FAR beyond his patriotic service or animated personality. Indeed, it is the intertwining love story of devotion to our mother that will captivate you. Their love story includes years of active church service, golf, ballroom dancing and travel . . . until Alzheimer disease robbed her of vitality. During the final fifteen years of her life, Dot slipped away. Her laughter and conversation dwindled to blank stares while Dad faithfully visited her for hours in the nursing home. On a daily basis he walked a quarter of a mile from his apartment in the retirement complex to the Alzheimer unit. Twice daily he would gently feed her pureed meals, and she would silently open her mouth, chuckle at the sound of his voice or occasionally call his name. I can still see him kissing her on the forehead each evening and saying “Good night, Sweetie.” Mom passed away last January with all of us at her side.
They were a unique couple. Mom was a gentle, attentive soul who tirelessly worked for the Red Cross in their Disaster Relief Program in latter years. She and Dad were extremely active and never, ever dreamed that one-third of their married life would be consumed by dementia. Through it all Dad has modeled an uncommon level of love that has humbled us all to re-examine the courage and devotion it requires to be faithful “in sickness and in health.”
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