I was just a boy. And he was just my dad.
It was the 1950s. We were a small family. My parents were attentive(贴心的), caring and devoted to one another. Then suddenly, when I was 9, half of my safe and comfortable world disappeared. Dad died that morning. It was a heart attack.
A child wants to know why such things should happen. For a child, however, there can be no satisfying answers. But with adulthood, I gradually began to learn more about my dad.
He had grown up in a large family on the family farm. When war broke out in 1939, he joined the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. He was 31. He was sent overseas to southern England, where Canadian soldiers continued training while waiting for a call to action. During that time, he used his occasional(偶尔的)weeklong leaves to visit Scotland. There he met my mother, and they married in April 1942. I remember that Dad often had to go up to the veteran's(退伍军人的)hospital in Winnipeg each year. Something about his heart.
Many years later, I became more curious about his wartime and postwar experience, hoping it would help me know who he was. I sent a request to the National Archives for his postwar medical records. One day I came home from work to find a thick package at my door. It was more than 800 pages of my dad's medical records. I was overwhelmed.
So here was my dad's story, which I hadn't fully known.
This was the dad who survived years of cold conditions and lack of food in a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland. This was the dad who survived death marches(行军)in the cold winter of 1945, as the Germans paraded(游街示众)their POWs(战俘)around the countryside. This was the dad who spent 391 days in the hospital after the war. It was why he died at 50, leaving his wife and two sons behind.
The child in me could never understand why he would leave me. The adult could now forgive him for having done so. But I can't forgive war itself for the losses it causes, not only on the men and women who actively serve but on the generations yet to be born.
4. What can we learn about the author's father?
A.He opposed war in all forms. | B.He married before going overseas. |
C.He had to check his heart regularly after the war. | D.He was forced to join the army at 31. |
5. How did the author feel after reading the medical records?
A.Surprised and annoyed. | B.Confused and worried. |
C.Inspired and relieved. | D.Shocked and heartbroken. |
6. Why did the author forgive his father at last?
A.He was persuaded by his brother to do so. | B.He understood what his father had gone through. |
C.He remembered his father's care for him. | D.He experienced the same pain as his father had. |
7. What does the author want to convey from the article?
A.Soldiers deserve our respect. | B.A strong body means everything. |
C.War brings disastrous pain for generations. | D.A father's love is important for a family. |