While I was out in KS I got a little history lesson from Nancy about Ben's Grandpa Shaha (you know how I love history). You see, Grandpa Shaha is the patriarch of the clan and all the grandchildren adore and dote on him. But when I married into the family over five years ago, Grandpa Shaha had recently had a stroke, which has rendered him unable to speak and so I feel a little cheated, like I never got to know the Grandpa Shaha that everybody loves.
The Grandpa Shaha that everybody loves
He played the French Horn
His father served in WWI, and he himself served in Korea and Vietnam (that part I did know)
He had two brothers, one who as a young father was hit and killed by a drunk driver
His parents were the typical "Okies" who left the dust bowl region of the US and emigrated west to California during the Great Depression (from KS I believe?)
He attended a military academy in CA where his mom was a cook and his dad was a janitor
He always wanted to be a soldier
He attended Stanford University
He married an uptown girl from Beverly Hills
He was a battalion commander in Vietnam and miraculously saved the life of a co-pilot whose right arm was hit by shrapnel in a Little Bird helicopter. He did this by leaning out the back of the helicopter to hold the co-pilots right arm in place to stop the bleeding while the person sitting next to him held onto his belt loop. Yes, true story.
Upon meeting missionaries, he had a miraculous conversion to the LDS church and gave up his vices of smoking and drinking in no time (that part I knew too).
Anyone else want to share something about Grandpa Shaha that I've missed?
Grandma and Grandpa Shaha with their five children. They take their military heritage very seriously
Grandpa Shaha's posterity
Grandpa met Grandma at UCLA where they went to college together. Grandpa's first choice was the Naval Academy. He considers that divine intervention directed him to UCLA Army ROTC. He got his Master's Degree at Stanford.
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