Military runs in the family: McCormicks dedicated to serving their country
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While most would admit the word means giving something up for the greater good, sacrifice in the McCormick family also means the likelihood of joining the military and going to war.
One could say military service has become a family tradition that most likely began with the draft of her brother-in-law during World War I.
Since then, her brother, Bill Dulaney, and husband Johnny McCormick, who is deceased, have served in World War II, and seven of her 14 children have served in the military. All four of her daughters married military men.
Today, fourth and fifth generations of the McCormick descendants are serving in the armed forces, with some just returning or serving in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. The family doesn’t know exactly where Marine Seth Ehasz is, but celebrates the return of Air Force family member Brandy McCandless from Afghanistan and notes the service of Christopher McCandless, who is serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy.
“This is a job to keep up with,” McCormick’s oldest son, Alvin McCormick, said while sifting through photographs of service members, both former and current. “If you’re not careful, you won’t keep up.”
The three currently serving in conflicts are McCormick’s great-great grandchildren. There are some 28 more direct descendants – including her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren – who have signed on with the military.
“We’ve had someone serving in every war since World War I, through World War II, Korea, Vietnam and we have family members over there now,” son Malcolm McCormick said.
Malcolm served two tours in Vietnam after re-enlisting after the draft and retired from the Army in 1978. “Ever since I saw my first soldier,” he added, “I wanted to be that solider.”
Alvin, born two years before the Great Depression began, sees things a little differently. When he joined the Navy in 1948, the United States was on the brink of the Korean War. Times were tight, as they would be for any large family, which consisted of nine children at that time.
During his time, sons of Warren County joined the military because there was little else offered. Alvin left in the ’40s, served briefly in the Navy and then worked for the Air Force as a civilian and didn’t come back to Tennessee until the ’80s. He did not meet his youngest brother until then, he said.
McCormick’s other sons who served were: Johnny Jr. “Buck,” who served two tours in Korea with the Army; Harry, who served in Korea with the Army; Billy, who served in the Air Force, Franklin, who was in the Army serving overseas; and Jimmy, who served in Vietnam with the Army.
McCormick, 92, said during the times her sons were deployed, with several serving simultaneously in Korea or Vietnam, she kept busy with the children and making a living – living off the land farming and hand washing clothing and doing other chores for families of the Rocky River Coal and Lumber Co.
“I don’t know how to explain it. I had so many at home to take care of. I’d write letters to the ones in the service,” she said. “In ways, I worried about them. I just waited for them to come back. I had to work at home and we farmed. When my husband went in, we only got $21 a month,” she added, proud of self-subsistence and hard work.
But she adds she is grateful every one of them came back, down to the granddaughter who left three days after graduating high school and now has 13 years of service under her belt.
“One good thing that I’m lucky for and the Lord has blessed me – I’ve got all of them,” she said.
“She hasn’t ever lost one of them in the service,” Alvin added.
They are simple thoughts where actions speak louder than any profound words can. “It’s just nice that they would want to serve their country,” the grandmother of 60, great grandmother of 109 and the great-great grandmother of 52 descendants added.
Her brother, at 87, thinks back to World War II and perhaps sums up the family’s ideals for all of them. He served with Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army, fought in Bastogne, built a bridge across the Rhine River and ended up in Austria during the war.
“I’m glad we’ve had that many that loved America enough to serve,” Dulaney said.