Page 33 - The Sandbag Times Issue No:58

AFVBC

High Plains (Spain) AFVBC Fast forward to 2015, I met my now husband, a RAFP vet and
By Esther Navarro BTP police dog handler. He struggles, and I have learned so
much thanks to him. Fate works in strange ways. Living with my
husband, I have learned why my father was and did what he did.
Hello, my name is Esther Navarro, and I am founding co-admin So as you may understand, the Armed Forces, and especially
for the High Plains (Spain) AFVBC (north Granada province, veterans, are something very dear to me. I love to sit and listen to
Spain). the banter, the stories, the memories.

I am a civilian, but I have been related to the armed forces my I am very active in several military charities, and when I heard
entire life. My father was a career soldier, US Army. I was born about the AFVBC, I decided then and there to start one in our
and raised on a military base overseas. I grew up in a place area. That is where I am now. We live in a very remote area
where you stopped the car and saluted the flag at sundown. All of southern Spain, with not only ex-pats, but local Spaniard
my friends were army brats, like myself. My dad volunteered to scattered about. I live in a tiny hamlet with about 60 permanent
go to Vietnam, and when he came back, he was a different daddy residents, of which, as of today, about 14 are British, and of
than the one that had gone to war. In those days, children were those, 3 are vets. We can travel for miles just for a coffee, and if
seen and not heard, and they were never told “adult problems”. the food is good, we may even drive over an hour.

So I never understood why my dad was always so angry at me. We have our regular meetings once a month at our scheduled
I grew up first fearing him, then hating him. He passed away venue, but we will also be having “roaming breakfasts” in the
years later, from one of the many illnesses the US government different towns and hamlets in our area. Hopefully this will help
denies are war related. To this day, I carry the guilt of not in bringing more men and women out of their caves, and back
understanding him. into the family.

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