Seven Months and Nine Days

My grandfather, William C. Hull, a retired Staff Sergeant with the United States Army during World War II. His lengthy military journey certainly was not lacking adventure nor turmoil after first being drafted in 1943 when he was only eighteen years old. From Normandy to Vietnam, from Kitchen Duty to Paratrooper, and from the brig to a Bronze Star, he experienced it all, to include the brutal humiliation of being captured as a Prisoner of War and placed in a German stalag, escaping briefly for three days, only to be recaptured and finally set free by the Russian troops. Despite the turmoil and through several reenlistments, he only wanted to serve his country more, even after returning home. The Army life was all he seemed to know. He loved recounting his stories, and I loved hearing them. My grandfather. My hero.