A/N: Disclaimer. Kim Possible, Nana Possible, Rufus and Ron Stoppable are owned by the Disney Corporation and not by myself.
Of course I continue to make no money on this little hobby.
I want to thank my beta CajunBear73 for getting this out tonight since I got it to him this afternoon.
Parts of this tale are fiction, unfortunately other parts are a sad fact.
I'll thank you for reading in advance.
ST-103
In Saint Louis
Lambert International Airport:
"Honey do you see her yet?", the red head asked her husband as they waited at the concourse they knew she would come through.
"Yeah KP, I think that's her. Since her flight was delayed by weather, she should be coming through anytime.
Finally, Kim could see her and she called out, "Nana over here!"
The red jogged over to the older woman who seemed to know her better than she did herself. The last time she had seen her Grandmother was at her and Ron's wedding less than three years before.
"My, my Kimberly you absolutely glow. It's so wonderful that you can meet me this time.", Nana replied.
"Well I'm not sure why you came to visit us, but like you asked we have the day free tomorrow. I don't have any classes.", Kim smiled.
"It's a wonder too Nana, with her trying to get a double PhD. She should know better. Anyway KP should be done in the Spring and we'll be able to move back to Middleton with our families and open that restaurant and she can go to work for GJ like she's always wanted. Of course little Rufus has thrown a monkey wrench into her planning.", Ron chuckled.
"Rooonnnnn! First of all we're not going to name her after Rufus, and second I'll be done with one PhD at Christmas and I only have two classes in the other one. I can do it.", Kim rubbed her slightly swollen belly.
"I'm sure you'll be able to do it Kimberly. Now do you realize the significance of tomorrow?", Nana asked smiling at how the two interacted.
"Well it's not Ron's favorite holiday of the year besides Christmas.", Kim thought out loud.
"Favorite holiday?", Nana wondered out loud.
Ron, standing behind Kim put his arms around her and softly stroked her tummy, "Yeah, she means Thanksgiving. We're going to stay here this year for T- Day and go back at semester break to see the family. So why are you here again?"
"I have been coming here for a few years when I found out that one of the men that Frank knew was buried here in St. Louis.", Nana revealed.
"Frank?", Ron asked.
"My brother Frank, he was a Marine on Wake Island on December 8th, 1941. Though many of the men survived the battle including contractors who were executed later on the Island, Frank didn't. His body has never been recovered. It's a wound that will never heal completely.", Nana informed him softly.
"Yeah Dad told me about Uncle Frank.", Kim replied sadly.
"Well do you know the meaning of eleven, eleven, eleven?", Nana asked
Seeing the confused looks she continued, "At eleven am on November eleventh is the real time for Veterans Day or as the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Kiwis call it, Remembrance Day. Every year they have a memorial service at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. There is a plot there were the remains of one hundred prisoners of war were re-interred from a Japanese POW camp in 1949. One of those men was on Wake Island with my brother. What better of a place to let them rest for eternity than along with other soldiers? It is a way of connecting."
"I didn't know Nana.", Kim replied glancing at her husband seeing him stare off in the distance.
"Ronald knows about loss too Kimberly. I have looked it up. He had lost family members in the Warsaw uprising in 1944. Just how many members of your family did you lose?", Nana asked.
"I think six, but no one knows for sure. The original battles were in other cities, but General Komorowski wanted to take on Warsaw as well. The Poles thought that they were going to get help from the Russians to defeat the Germans, but it didn't work out that way. The Russians let the Poles get slaughtered and then fought the Germans later.", Ron informed them.
"Ron I didn't know."
"KP I wanted to keep that out of our relationship. It was war. The Nazis were evil. The rest of the world had to band together to beat the Axis powers because they were so ruthless. We can talk about this another time when Nana isn't here.", Ron calmed her.
"We can talk about it over dinner. I'm buying since I'm staying at your condo tonight.", Nana told them.
"Nana we have money, we took the scholarship money and donated it back to the school. Between his Naco money and working at the restaurant we have way more than we need. Anyway in about nine months we'll be moving into our new place in Middleton. They're building it now.", Kim added.
"I insist Kimberly. You can buy lunch tomorrow after the service.", Nana informed them.
"OK Nana, come on Naco boy let's pick up my grandmother's bags and head out to eat. We can talk later.", Kim instructed.
XX
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery:
The two young adults stood with Kim's Grandmother as most of those gathered under the green tent. There were wreaths laid out in front waiting to be put on the gravesite just across the street. There were many uniformed service people buying red flowers to place on their jackets. Intermingled were men in kilts who stood quietly by as well. "Do you want to sit Nana?", Kim asked.
"No Kimberly, I'm happy to stand. These services don't last that long. Maybe you should sit though.", the gray haired woman replied as a piper began playing a dirge from amongst the headstones.
"I'm happy to stand outside here. It's not cold actually it's pretty warm for St. Louis in November.", the red head replied as Ron hovered around them both knowing that Nana was becoming more frail by the year and Kim was just being stubborn.
As the Dan Jackson, the piper finished playing, Colonel Mike Cassidy, United States Air Force began: "Welcome all to our Remembrance Day and Veterans Day Service."
"Over the next few days there will be many services commemorating a day in which we honor the fallen men of past wars on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. This time was because it is the original Armistice Day of World War One. The War to end all wars. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case. Only twenty years later war began again. If the other powers had won everything that we take for granted from the language we speak to the food we eat let alone the ideas and freedoms that we enjoy would have been changed forever."
As the speakers progressed, the topic was clear. Never forget. Never forget the ones that never came home to see their loved ones again. Never forget the children that would never be. Never forget the loves that were lost. Never forget the sacrifice of young men and women serving in the Armed Forces of their countries.
Never forget that there has only been one year without British troops having one operational death since then. The year was 1969. And that year was when many United States troops were caught in the maw of war.
Though so many of them hadn't wanted to be in Southeast Asia, and were drafted into either the US Army or Marines, countless served with honor and distinction. All the while, back in 'The World' as it was called at the time, the very fabric of society was being ripped to shreds, rendering what they fought for unrecognizable to them when they returned home.
Finally 'Last Post' was played and everyone stood and saluted (if they were in uniform) or stood silently by for what seemed like an eternity.
X
Finally it was over. Kim's eyes misted as she remembered stories about the man she would never meet. 'I have to talk to Nana about Uncle Frank and maybe get Ronnie to talk to me about his relatives from World War II.', Kim thought with a half smile, 'My daughter will know these stories. I promise her.'
A/N: Hi everyone. I went to the Veterans Day Memorial Service at Jeff Barracks again this morning. So what you read was a combination of fact and fiction. Remember to keep the guys in uniform in your thoughts. They are doing the service for you and all are volunteers...Not like when I was in.
ST-103