Murmurs Past

Murmurs Past

Noel Laflin

12-7-17

It’s Pearl Harbor Day, and I am reminded of my father recalling how he attempted to enlist in the military shortly thereafter.

An Army doctor determined that he had a heart murmur, and was thus turned away.

A few months later, he married my mom.

Then a draft notice arrived.

The war in both the Pacific as well as in Europe was not going well for the Allies at that point.

The doctor who listened to my father’s heart at the next medical examination could find nothing wrong whatsoever.  My dad was suddenly a soldier.

My father always marveled at the advance in medicine in just a few months time.

When he died at the age of 91, his heart was not the issue.   It was beating strong up until the very end.

I guess he was right about the marvels of medicine – not to mention the need for a lot more soldiers.