Today I salute my grandfather Donald Barnum who served in Naval intelligence during World War 2. He was a brilliant man who was part of the On-The-Roof team who helped crack the Japanese code.
Fortunately he knew enough to move my grandmother and dad (who was 3 at the time) from Honolulu back to Oregon in November 1941, just weeks before the Pearl Harbor attacks. Unfortunately, he could not avoid the fate of being captured himself from his station on an island off the coast of Japan. He was captured as the war broke out and was a POW throughout the entirety of the war.
Although he never spoke of his days in captivity, we always knew this was a man who sacrificed dearly to protect his family and his country. Thanks Grandpa Don for giving your all for everyone else.
I Salute you Sir.
