She served drinks at my father’s squadron reunion barbecue in Iowa. She watched and I could see she was impressed by the young marines in uniform who came to visit with the World War II vets.
It was very hot and humid day out and her skin glistened as it told a story of her own skirmishes and battles. Her bars and stars weren’t on her chest, but she earned them none the less.
The General’s Wife told us the story of how she got her star. He was up on stage receiving his star as a one star general. After the ceremony was done he stopped and started talking ad lib. He told of how he was there not due to his own efforts alone but the support of someone else. He brought his wife on stage and choking with emotion said that I have a star within this star on my shoulder and it is my wife Cindy. He presented her with a jewelry box and inside was the necklace you see, a diamond star surrounding a diamond star in the middle. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as you can imagine. She beamed as she told this story to the other wives and widows at the reunion. It made her very happy and that was where her beauty came from at that moment.