My grandfather, Captain C.W. Hood (his picture is my avatar), was shipped out to Pearl Harbor from Oakland, CA in 1940, where he was part of the 21st Infantry Division in the US Army. He survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, and had the avatar picture taken soon afterwards to send home to his parents and my grandmother. He was at Pearl Harbor until 1942, when he was shipped out to Australia, at Camp Caves, near Rockhampton for training. After some time, he was sent to Goodenough Island to prepare for an invasion of New Guinea. In April of 1944, he was part of the first wave of an invasion at Hollandia, in which the US Army successfully seized control of key airstrips. After approximately two months on New Guinea, he was finally shipped home.
I asked my grandmother once, "What was the first thing you and Grandpa did when he came home?"
She responded, "I asked him the same thing. He said immediately that he wanted to go have a drink at the Claremont (which is a beautiful hotel in the Bay Area, California)."
She went on: "The Claremont had these big beautiful windows that looked out over the Bay, and Grandpa and I got a drink and sat down on some cushions in front of the windows."
I asked her, "What did you guys talk about?"
She responded, "He didn't say a word. He just sat there, sipped his drink, and smiled."
They were married two weeks later.
I love them, and miss them both. Especially my grandmother.
