"To lead by example" A true account of my Grandfather. By Ben Goode 2017

I will be thinking of my Pop today.

He was an impressionable man. Always kind to me. 
In the years I knew him, he had been a victim of throat cancer. And he could only talk through a hole in his neck.
"Throat cancer refers to cancer of the voice box, the vocal cords, and other parts of the throat, such as the tonsils and oropharynx" (Healthline.com)

He had served in New Guinea at Milne Bay. 
He often spoke highly about the "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels" who he encountered, who were allegedly treated very badly by the Japanese troops.

He had a collection of war memorabilia which he'd bring out to show me sometimes, including some pictures and some Japanese uniform buttons. 
Apparently they used to collect them to keep track of the Japanese troops they had dealt with.

My grandfather used to be quite a tinkerer. 
He could disassemble, and reassemble all types of machines and equipment. Much to my Nan's horror, who once found her old school roller washer machine in pieces on the lawn lol

He had this old VW bug which was his pride and joy. 
He even made modifications to that. 
I will never forget it. I loved the noise it made as it drove. 
Like someone making the noise of a continuous raspberry lol. Needless to say I have loved VW's ever since.

At the time I didn't really notice, but apparently he was a bit like Mr Magoo as a driver lol but what I didn't know didn't hurt me. He always drove ok to me, but then I never had anything to compare it to lol.

He had a shed full of wonders, but he wouldn't let anyone in there. But sometimes I'd sneak in to have a peak, and I was blown away. It was like something out of the twilight zone. 
A museum of wonders. I wanted to explore it but he somehow knew I was there, all the time.

He used to do crosswords, and ask me the impossible questions which were the clue's lol.
He used to love eating Spam, he couldn't really eat anything else, because of his throat. But he let me try it, and I got to really like that, and i still occasionally eat it to this day.

I remember one day I brought over my friend to my grandparents. He was a Japanese exchange student. 
I wasn't really educated enough to know at the time, how that really, really, could have gone wrong.

My Nan's brother had been killed by the Japanese during the war, and of course my Pop had been in the war against the Japanese, as I mentioned.

But I introduced Yutaka to them, and they welcomed him.
They showed no animosity toward him, as my mother thought they might. She was very surprised when I told her.

Yutaka and my grandparents talked for quite some time, but my grandfather talked to him mostly. 
Even more surprising, was that Yutaka wasn't offended, when my Pop showed him the Japanese jacket buttons he'd collected. If anything he was fascinated by it.

That meeting really impressed upon me. After all that had happened. There was peace, where there could have easily been a Jerry Springer show. It's a shame world leader's couldn't take their example, and talk civilly to each other.
And maybe then, there could be peace.

I had a great deal of respect for my grandfather James Standfield. And he will always be remembered especially today. 
May we always remember all our great service men, and women alike. 
Lest we forget. 
Anzac day must always remain part of our nation..