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Chris Smith with his parents, Donald and Kathleen Smith, in Westbrook shortly after Chris graduated from Army Airborne School. “For some reason, he always admired that I was in the military,” Donald says.

VETERANS DAY EVENTS IN SOUTHERN MAINE

PORTLAND: The annual Portland Veterans Day parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Longfellow Square and make its way down Congress Street. The parade will end with the laying of wreaths in front of City Hall. n Simply Scandinavian Foods, at 469 Stevens Ave., plans a veterans display with free items, refreshments and a 10 percent discount on all goods for veterans from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A free seated Swedish massage will be available to veterans from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Call 874-6759 for more information.

FREEPORT: Maine veterans will showcase their artwork through Nov. 29 at the Freeport Square Gallery on Main Street, one block north of L.L. Bean). Today, there will be a ceremony beginning with speeches at 10 a.m., followed by a flag ceremony at 11 a.m. An artists' reception will begin at 4 p.m. and a poetry reading will start at 7 p.m. On-site tours of the Vet Center Mobile Unit will be available.

GRAY: Free admission for U.S. military personnel and veterans at the Maine Wildlife Park, 56 Game Farm Road. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. and close at 4 p.m. For more information, call 287-8000.

WISCASSET: Bradford Sortwell Wright American Legion Post 54 will hold a 9 a.m. service at the Veterans Monument in front of the municipal building at 51 Bath Road.

DEALS FOR VETERANS

• Veterans and active-duty military personnel eat free at Applebee's restaurants with proof of service.

• ScrubaDub locations in Portland, South Portland and Biddeford will offer free car washes to veterans and active military personnel through the company's "Free for the Brave" program.

As a boy growing up in Westbrook, Chris Smith played war games with toy guns and liked to wear camouflage. He didn't get his story lines from his father. Donald Smith, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, didn't share war stories with his children.

But Chris absorbed his father's pride in his military service. While Donald didn't talk much about Vietnam, he was never shy about his patriotism, always displaying his American flag. And though Donald wasn't keen on being in parades, the family attended events for Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

It surprised Donald Smith and his wife, Kathleen, when their son told them he wanted to attend one of the nation's military academies. Donald said the announcement – and his son's subsequent acceptance to West Point – filled him with pride.

''For some reason, he always admired that I was in the military,'' Donald said. ''Maybe deep inside, he wanted to become a soldier because I was a soldier.''

The Smiths are among the many Maine families in which military service spans generations. For this father and son, the respect and admiration are mutual.

''He was always my hero,'' Chris said of his father. ''He didn't always know that. He definitely is.''

Chris Smith followed in his father's military footsteps, although Chris served in the Army rather than the Marine Corps.

Both father and son became decorated war veterans. Donald was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded by a booby-trapped grenade in Vietnam in 1967. Chris received the Bronze Star, for heroic and meritorious achievement, for his service as executive officer of an artillery battery of the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan in 2003.

Family members influenced Donald's decision to join the military. He had seen how his two older brothers, John and David, were transformed into men through their service. And he saw in David's love of his uniform how proud he was to be a Marine.

Donald was drafted into the Army soon after graduating from Cape Elizabeth High School, but he took the option to join the Marines instead.

''I really wanted to serve my country,'' said Donald, 63, a retired postal carrier. ''I was proud. I was proud I was going to become a Marine and I was proud when I became a Marine.''

As part of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, Donald landed in Vietnam in June 1966. He patrolled in and around the port city of Da Nang and later around Khe Sanh, near the demilitarized zone.

He was also part of the ''rough riders,'' taking supplies through villages, and later participated in 26 surprise attacks off the USS Okinawa. Firefights, mortar fire and a sense of never knowing when he might be hit were part of everyday life.

Chris Smith spent nine months in barren, mountainous parts of eastern Afghanistan in support of U.S. and Afghan forces.

For much of the time, he and his soldiers conducted missions from small outposts and provided defense for the bases of operation, counterattacking when necessary. Most nights, they fired mortars to let the enemy know they were ready for them.

Flurries of activity punctuated lulls in which the soldiers continued their training and sometimes played on a basketball court they had built.

Donald, who now lives in Old Orchard Beach and spends winters in Florida, remembers being sick to his stomach on Sept. 11, 2001, knowing that his son was an infantry artillery officer for a country that would be at war.

With their son in Afghanistan, Donald and Kathleen avoided watching too much TV and just hoped that Chris was OK. In satellite phone calls, Donald knew his son would keep difficult experiences out of the conversation, just as Donald had omitted them in letters from Vietnam.

Despite his concern for his son, Donald never wished he hadn't gone into the military.

''He's my son. I didn't want anything to happen to him. He chose this life,'' Donald said. ''They're trained...