Thank you for your service.
It’s an understatement to say I can’t even imagine what you went through — but I can say thank you for what I am aware of -fighting at Dunkirk.
The stress, the fear, the pain in every form, one thing is clear — how you refused to give up.
I never had the token of a conversation with you like other kids with grandparents get — but it is nineteen years later and I have realized I don’t have to. I know in my saddest and most hopeless of moments you were standing in waters below 0, probably wounded and bleeding, watching your friends suffer and some even left behind.
And through all of it, you had the faith to keep going and make it home.
And because you did, you came home to my Grandma Elizabeth and fathered my Dad and in time I was given life as well.
You’ve missed my birthdays and I never spent a Christmas with you. But the heritage and hope I am a recipient of is one of the greatest gifts of all time.
I love you and hope you are resting well in your grave,
Zoe Marie Kirtley,
Your granddaughter who hopes that love will transcend time and space to bring you this message.
