Remembering Bud Beasley

It's been almost six years since my father died. He was a WWII veteran serving over three years in India and Burma in the Army Air Corp. He is the second one from the left. He was awarded a Bronze Star although I was never clear for exactly what.


He was also a survivor of the dust bowl and Great Depression. This is a picture of his father and him with his two younger brothers taken in Oklahoma circa 1930. He was self employed during most of his life owning a couple of grocery stores and later in commercial real estate. He never got rich but he never did anything to be ashamed of either and perhaps that's why.

He wasn't perfect. He opposed the Vietnam War but I often wondered if that was because I was of draft age. He was a Democrat until the late 60s but switched to Republican. He always said it was because of Johnson and the war but I think the Civil Rights Act may have played a part.

He was the product of his times and past but still one of the finest people I will ever know. He would often surprise me. He was a Bush supporter when he died but that was six years ago and I'm not sure he still would be. Could he bring himself to vote for Barack Obama? Probably not but as I said he was full of surprises.

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