Nov. 11 is set aside every year to honor all veterans who served their country during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The media, TV and newspapers around the country have made great strides in honoring our men and women who risked their lives preserving freedom.

On a personal note, I would like to pay homage to a great American who dearly loved his country and lived the life of a Marine until the day he died — my father, Robert Louis McNeely Sr.

Following the footsteps of my ancestors, David McNeely under the command of General Thomas Sumter in the 2nd Dragoon, South Carolina unit in the Revolutionary War, and Joseph A. McNeely, who died in Richmond, Va., during the Civil War, my father Robert Louis McNeely joined the military ranks by enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps in the spring of 1943. He and his school buddies were given permission to leave Natchez High School two months before graduation to enlist. By this time, World War II was in full swing, and my father wanted to go where the action was, overseas to fight the enemies.

However, the Marine Corps enabled my father to attend Duke University and Emory University. During this time he was given his commission as an officer. After his training from the universities, my father served the remainder of the war aboard a ship in the Pacific. After the war, my father decided to make a career in the Marines. He served in many locations over the years, including Tshingtao, China, where he met my mother Anesia; several stints in Okinawa, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; commanded battalions in Quantico, Va.; Portsmouth, Va.; Camp Lejune, N.C.: Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Kaneohe, Hawaii; Bremerton, Wash.; and San Diego, Calif.

During the Korean War, my father was commanding officer of his battalion aboard a battleship. He never saw action in World War II; he never saw action in the Korean War. He did, however, go to Jamaica and Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. He could not divulge his secret mission to anyone, including his family. He came home one day in October 1962, packed his bags, and we drove him to San Diego from Oceanside, Calif., to board the USS Breckinridge battleship. His ship was one of the barricades surrounding the islands of Jamaica and Cuba. That was a very tense moment for all of us, the not knowing where he was going or what he was doing.

By the time the Vietnam War escalated in 1966-67, my father was determined to see action in this war, so he asked the Marine Corps to send him to Vietnam to fight. The corps refused to send him due to his age; he was 41 at the time. My father asked the Marine Corps to give him a leave of absence from the service so he could work as an A.I.D. Representative under the State Department and assist the Provincial Chief in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, to rebuild their economy.

My father finally got his chance to see action. He lived in a hut sleeping with a gun under his pillow each night. I cannot imagine the fear he experienced each day. Quang Tri Province was a hot bed of coals, constant firing of bullets and consistent bombing of the area. My dad’s mental state exploded. He finally escaped from the area and wandered through the woods for a month. How he survived, I do not know. Dad would never talk about it. He kept it bottled up inside.

When he was found, he was taken to Saigon to recuperate and then on to Bagio City, Philippines where my family was living at the time. By November 1967, Dad and the family came back to the states. The doctors treated him at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md.

He was able to return to the Marine Corps and remain in Quantico, Va., until his retirement in June 1968. He retired as a Lt. Colonel after serving Uncle Sam for 25 years.

My Dad continued to live his life as a proud Marine until the day he died. His last years were spent as a resident of the Veteran’s Home in Jackson and Collins.

In January 2001, Robert Louis McNeely was given military honors at his funeral, and the Mississippi State Senate set aside a moment of remembrance for his many years of service with a letter from Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and the Senate.

No veteran should be forgotten. Whether they are alive or now deceased, no man should be forgotten for the many years he served preserving our freedom. My father will always remain in my heart now and forever.

Janet McNeely is a Natchez resident.