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Memories of my Dad
on Veterans Day

The following is the 13th in a series of Odessa File columns by Jim Reed, managing partner of the Ziff Law Firm, regarding news of a legal nature that readers might find timely in this ever-changing world.

By Jim Reed
Managing partner
Ziff Law Firm, Elmira

I always think of my father on Veterans Day.

My Dad, Beldon Reed, served in the Army for four years during the Korean War. He was a support soldier stationed in West Point, N.Y., and Colorado Springs. He received his first training in plumbing in the Army, and plumbing became his life-long vocation. But he learned a lot more than plumbing in the Army.

The lessons my Dad learned in the service made him a terrific husband to my Mom, a loving father who set an example for me and two younger brothers, and the proud owner of a respected plumbing business in Elmira, where I worked during high school and college. From working with my Dad, I learned to never cut corners and to take pride in doing a good job.

My father, a Boy Scout before he was a soldier, set an example for his sons that still influences all of us today. As a veteran, the military discipline and personal routines established in the Army served him well as a self-employed plumber.

As a teenager, I thought he was nuts but I still remember every morning at breakfast, he pulled out his shoeshine kit and shined his boots before heading off to work for the day. Plumber or not, Dad believed you should be clean and take pride in your appearance.

I worked with my Dad for three summers during college, and when we got dirty on a job, he insisted we go home and change into clean clothes before we went to the next job.

Dad was organized, conscientious, and meticulous -- all values he learned in the Army. The military gave him a path to a better life, and he took it.

My father was just 68 years old when he died in 2001. If he was here today, he'd be happy to know that the lessons he learned in the Army about hard work, discipline, and the value of hard physical work needed to be successful have been quietly passed down through my generation to the next.

Happy Veterans Day, Dad.

To Dad, my son Gavin, who served with Army Airborne, and the many other U.S. veterans, I offer my sincere thanks for your service to this great country.

Thanks for reading,

Jim

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Photos in text: Attorney Jim Reed (top) and his father, Beldon Reed.

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To see Jim Reed's first column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's second column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's third column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's fourth column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's fifth column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's sixth column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's seventh column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's eighth column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's ninth column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's tenth column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's 11th column, click here.
To see Jim Reed's 12th column, click here.
To read Adam Gee's first column, click here.