CPT. Glen H. Wallace (USN, Ret.) August 4th,1920-April 29th, 2012

 Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep,
Its own appointed limits keep.

Oh hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea! Amen.

Eternal Father, lend Thy grace To
those with wings who fly thro' space,
Thro wind and storm, thro' sun and rain,
Oh bring them safely home again.

Oh Father, hear an humble prayer,
For those in peril in the air! Amen.

Oh Trinity of love and pow'r,
Our brethren shield in danger's hour,
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them where so e'er they go.

Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea! Amen.
              - The Navy Hymn

Now before I tell you anything about the person above, there are a few things that you need to know about him.  First and foremost, he was my great-great uncle.  How is that you say?  Well, long story short, his brother was my great grandfather, Robert Lee Wallace, who married my GreatMother Sweetie when he was 17 and she was 16.  My grandmother Rosalie Wallace was his niece, and my mother Teresa was his great niece, so that made me his great-great niece.  After my Great-Grandpa Wallace died when I was three, he basically took the place of him in my life.  Grandpa Wallace used to tell me stories about how he lost his fingers in WWII and Uncle Glen used to tell me stories about his life as a Navy pilot on the USS Essex during WWII. I actually learned most of my military history through his teaching and quizzing at various family events during my lifetime.

He was born in Corning, Arkansas and was actually my Great-Grandpa's half brother, though you wouldn't have known it. Long story short, they survived during the Great Depression because they were self sufficient.  In fact, I interviewed him for a third grade history project and from that point forward he was my go to person for history lessons.  After high school he worked in a parts factory for the war effort.  That is where my Aunt Bonnie caught his eye.  She was the girl that inspected the parts before they were shipped.  I think he said something about screwing up on purpose so that he had to see her often.  He asked her out and she turned him down until he offered to let her drive his car (Smart lady that Aunt Bon was!!!). They married but he had enlisted as a pilot and he wasn't allowed to be married, so they hid it.  You can actually read the whole story online here and his book, "Wally's War" here .

He was a war hero, but you wouldn't know it by how he acted.  He was a strong, down to earth man.  Several individuals in our family directly credit him with their desire to join the military. And he was also a GREAT encourager.  I eagerly looked forward to my visits with him.  I really enjoyed my time with him, but the stories he told were the best!  When I expressed my desire to become a Navy pilot like him, instead of hearing the normal, "Girls can't be pilots".... He fostered and developed that dream.  He also said that, "Some day you'll make the best pilot out there, either that or you will make a pretty darn good officer's wife".   Now I didn't become a pilot for a ton of reasons, one being that everyone else discouraged me, but him.

Uncle Glen was also notorious for his letters.  If it wasn't stories about the neighbors and their kids, it was about what he, Aunt Bonnie, and Jim(my), were doing day to day. He was always a character, but also was strong in his conviction, but would tell you gently and sometimes not so gently his opinions about this, that, and the other.  In fact, the only real falling out we ever had was over a rather rude opinion he had about something and I took offense to.  That didn't last long because I could never stay made at him long.

We pretty much referred to him as "Uncle"... I don't think that I really referred to him as Uncle Glen unless I was trying to explain him to someone else or another family member. He was just the guy that was always happy to see me when we had family get togethers and the person I sought out as soon as my family arrived in SE Missourah (as we call it back home). I am sorry to say that my own first uncles didn't warrant as much excitement as Uncle Glen did.

One particular memory was of me whistling Anchors Aweigh at eight years old or something, and he challenged me to the words.  I didn't know them and he was appalled.  He spent the whole afternoon teaching me the words and made sure that I knew them and was quizzed each time he saw me.  He jokingly would have me snap to and then I had to either repeat or sing:

Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to all the joys, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here's wishing you a happy voyage home.

I thought that I was doing pretty good until he mentioned that there was a second verse... Yeah you guessed it... I know that too... It is actually the first verse in the original lyrics, but hey...


Stand, Navy, out to sea, Fight our battle cry;
We'll never change our course, So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors Aweigh. Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!

Throughout my life, he was always an encourager.  After my first marriage failed, he was prepared to go find someone (as he put it) and as I started to get back on my feet, his letters are what kept me from giving up.  I would sent him letters since that was preferred communication, though I will say that he was pretty dangerous with that WebTV email system that he loved.  He added me to various online groups that he was a part of and that was a lot of fun.

I owe Uncle Glen a lot.  He believed me when no one else did.  He stuck by me and also never treated me as if I was different because I was adopted.  He accepted me regardless and so did Aunt Bonnie.   When my GreatMother, Grandmother Rosalie, and then Aunt Bonnie died, I felt really lost.  GreatMother always had a story to tell, Grandmother Rosalie was pretty much my best friend outside of my own mother, and Aunt Bonnie was the sweetest woman ever. I have so many memories that I hold dear with my immediate family about the Wallace clan. Not that the Dickey side isn't important, but the Wallace side was super close and I used to get confused about who was a Wallace, a Hendricks, or a Miller. :) I made it point each year to call and thank him for his service (along with other family members) on Veteran's Day. 

I'll miss my Uncle Glen, mostly because he was right. I could do anything I wanted to.  I have a bucket list and through some people think it is weird to have one in the first place, I have something that I added the other day.  I don't know how or when, but I am going to fulfill his wish of seeing me fly.   I think I am going to research classes and licenses and see what I can do, before I get older to revive the dream.  You see, even my own family gave me numerous reasons for me NOT to fly, from I wore glasses to that I had issues (when I was younger), with math and physics (which I do excellently in now).  From this I have learned to never squash my own little girl's dreams, like mine were and to support her like Uncle Glen did me.

The last few days since I found out on April 30th, 2012 at 1413, that he died, have been hard.  I feel like I did when I lost several close people in my life. I still have to suck it up and drive on and do what I do day to day, but I would be lying to say that even as I write this, I am really trying hard not to break down and dissolve into tears. A million tears won't bring him back, but all the memories and the things he sent me in relation to the Navy and flying, will help me remember him for the great aviator, Uncle, vet, teacher, and mentor that he was. So if he was still here, I would just simply say, "thank you". 

Through this, I have learned that instead of waiting until people are gone and buried, we need to tell those who are still here, what they mean to us and how grateful we are to them for their support, their love, words of wisdom, or whatever it is that they do that brings value and importance to our lives. But unfortunately, when someone is gone, it is entirely too late to let them know how much they have impacted our lives.  If I have only one regret, it is that I never said, "thank you" enough or let him know how important he was to me.  If you don't get anything out of this, but one thing, let it be making sure that each day you tell someone who is important to you, how much they mean.  I sure wish that I could go back and do that now, but I can't.

“Well, as the saying goes, I was going to make a career of the Navy, but after 30 years, I gave up.” ~ CPT. Glen H. Wallace-USN (ret.).