My dad told 2 stories, one about his dislike of Eisenhower which probably saved his life and another about having to ditch into the ocean, said they had to push him out and eating sand when he finally got to land.
When he died my brother’s Air Force friend went through his medals and was amazed and very respectful, he wrote it all down and they gave them to me but I could tell my brother wanted them and gave them him so I still don’t know much about his service.
My Dad was a WW II vet in the Army Air Force who served stateside. He always said that if the US hadn’t dropped the bomb, he would have been sent overseas and there would have been a million US casualties in subduing the Japanese.
Wow. I understand the need to allow your brother to have those. The process of letting our parents go is so hard and in order for a family to make it through that adjustment intact or to at least minimize the damage, it requires genuine love and compassion exercised towards our family members remaining.
Perhaps one day your brother will pass that list his friend made on to you. Or not. We at least know the essence of the courage of these men, and they are the first to deny that the medals were the important things. Their comrades in arms, their God, their families and their nation founded in liberty were the overriding concerns. God bless you and your family.