Leland R. Case was a drill Sargeant in the United States Army through World War II. He fought in Germany while his wife Loretta waited for him at home. In his time in the army, Leland learned many things that he would impart upon his family.
He learned the value of hard work. He was not above picking up a shovel and digging a ditch with the “normal” folks. So non-accustomed to being “above the fray” was he that upon his return after World War II, he got a job operating a backhoe for the New York State Department of Highways. When he wasn’t running the machinery, he was down on the ground with the rest of the guys raking asphalt and pouring cement. In every sense of the word, Leland was a man’s man.
Both of children, Carol Jean and Charles went to private catholic school. It was hard making ends meet, but Loretta and Leland did it. Extra hours or an extra job were never out of the question, but Loretta was not allowed to work. Loretta took care of the home, and Leland provided for the family. Being born a Southern Baptist in Duck, West Virginia, he later converted to Catholicism when he moved to New York after he returned from the war. He had gone to a service and thought it was “the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.” From that point on, he was a convert and attended mass regularly.
After a number of severe heart attacks, Leland was forced to retire from the Department of Highways. On doing so, he, Loretta, and Charles moved back to West Virginia, setlling in a small town called Gassaway. That town, population probably somewhere around 200, was home to the Case and Jarvis family. From that point on, Leland was “home.”
Everyone who knew him loved him, and everyone who worked with or served under him respected him. He was hard not to like. A strict disciplinarian, and a real “rules” kind of guy, he would make you behave or you would be punished. He wouldn’t think twice about asking you to bring him his belt so he could slap you around with it after you misbehaved, but he loved all his children and grandchildren as if they were his own children. He was a drill sargeant when you were bad, but a loving grandfather and father when you were good.
Leland died in 1985, leaving behind Charles, Loretta, and Carol Jean, along with a family that was absolutely huge and spreading due to Leland’s 13 brothers and sisters. Some people called him drill sargeant. Some people called him supervisor.
I only knew him as Grandpa.
On this memorial day, we owe it to people like Leland to not forget their sacrifices so that we can live in freedom and peace. For a few minutes today, put the barbecue grill away. Turn down the Top 100 Crappy Songs of All Time, and just think. We wouldn’t have much were it not for the men in the past who preserved our freedom against all enemies, and the men who presently continue to fight for us so that we don’t have to bear the burdens of the freedoms we all enjoy.
Thank you to each and every last one of you. Yours is a debt we can never repay.