Dear Editor:

Your article “Veterans Day ramble in Rome” (November 14 edition) drew my attention at first glance. It was very personal to me seeing the Red Arrowhead patch of the USA/Canada First Special Forces Service. This is a symbol of honor, of our family.

My father, Kenneth R. Gay Sr., was a member of the “First Special Service Force” and a full active member of the First Special Forces Service Association, going to all of the reunions while he was able. Today, the association remains active through the children and grandchildren of force members.

My father never made the trip into Rome. He suffered injuries in Italy before entering Rome that returned him state-side, where he served the federal government for 39 years, 10 months.

Countless times I heard him recount his joining the force by being asked to join a new unit. The only thing they could tell him about it was that he’d get an extra $25 a month by joining.

He winter-trained in Helena, Mt., and at Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont, where he met my mother. Member of the force were close and allowed their addresses to be stopovers for the other “Brothers” of the force traveling through town. Fort Bragg also has a memorial to their forerunners of our special forces, and special operations (also see Reader's Digest Nov. 1944).

Thank you, Mr. Neily for bringing this part of my family history forward. It's nice to know that their service is still publicly acknowledged worldwide. My father passed away January 2012 at the age of 91.

John D. Gay
Cross City, Fla.