Lessons from My 98-year-old Dad: The Roots of My Raising Run Deep

by Marilynn Chadwick

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

Galatians 5:1

Daddy was always proud of his family. Not only his parents and siblings, but also his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. He often shared stories from his growing up years and said the way he felt about his family reminded him of the old country music song by Merle Haggard, “The Roots of My Raising Run Deep.”

Growing up, I was incredibly fortunate to know my dad’s parents, my grandparents, along with a wonderful collection of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Daddy often talked about his grandparents, with whom his family had shared farmland. I grew up hearing about “Mama Hunt” and “Papa Hunt” who had come from Massachusetts by way of Minnesota, to launch their sawmill business among the hardwoods of eastern Virginia.

As a boy, Daddy spent a lot of time talking with Mama Hunt during the years leading up to World War II. She was quite interested in international politics and world affairs. She stayed up to date on the unrest brewing over in Europe through the radio broadcasts by the famed H. V. Kaltenborn.

Dad was a young teen when World War II broke out, and the United States declared war after the shocking attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Dad’s entire family became involved in the war effort, along with families all over our nation. His older cousins served in North Africa. A favorite cousin was a nurse in a medic tent on the battlefields of north Africa. His aunts and uncles were invested in the farming efforts, victory gardens, rations, and blackouts. He talks about how the country united. As he put it, “We were all in.”

Shortly before his eighteenth birthday, Dad entered the Navy. Japan had just surrendered, but the violent aftermath of World War II continued, erupting into the Korean War, China’s Civil War, and what became known as the Cold War. After reporting to Pearl Harbor, Dad ended up in China during the turbulence leading up to the takeover by Communist Mao Tse Tung.

Dad always said that any sacrifices made by his family were to “protect our freedom” and fight against the totalitarian regimes in Germany, Japan, and the Axis forces, and other threats to our democracy. “After those difficult years of the Great Depression, the war effort united us as a family and as a nation,” he said. “Even as a youth, I knew that our freedom, our family, and our faith were well worth the fight.