Snoop Dogg Shares Rare Photo of Dad Vernell Varnado from His Military Service Days in 1969

In commemoration of Memorial Day, Rapper and Business owner Snoop Dogg updates his Instagram with a throwback photo of his father, who served in the U.S. Army.

The last Monday of May is the designated day to celebrate and honor military personnel who lost their lives while serving.

Observed in the United States as a federal holiday, Memorial Day is a day many Soldiers chose to take a trip down memory lane.

[Snoop Dogg] married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, in 1997, and together, they have two sons and one daughter.

Snoop, although he never served in the army, has a father who did. To celebrate the day, he chooses to thrill his Instagram followers to a throwback photo of his dad from 1969 during his military service.

In the caption that came with the nostalgic picture, the rapper thanked his father, most notably and every other person that served in the army. The gangsta rapper’s father, Vernell Varnado, who is also a singer, similarly thinks very highly of his only son.

In an exclusive chat with Hip-hop Nonstop T.V, the retired soldier praised Snoop’s growth in all facets of life and mentioned that his son had exceeded his expectations so far.

Vernall, who is popularly known as Papa Snoop, has an Instagram page filled with throwback pictures of himself, his son and his son’s family.

In showing his admiration for his family, there’s a photo of him, his son, and his first grandson, which he captioned “3 generations the compound it’s a blessing.”

While the veteran might be proud of his son now, the T.V. personality struggled to keep out of trouble, courtroom drama, and jail. L.A. Times in 1993 reported a defining moment of the rapper’s life. According to the outlet, Snoop Dogg’s first solo album, “Doggy Style” was released when he was 22-year-old.

That same year, he faced a murder charge following his participation in an Aug. 25 shooting. The Long Beach native is reported to have driven the car from which his bodyguard fired the fatal shots.

Born and raised around crime, Biography shares that the 6-foot-4 rapper after graduating from high school was arrested on multiple occasions for drug possession.

He was associated with the gang, "Rollin’ 20 Crips," and he made music as a way to stay out of trouble. He nevertheless married his high school sweetheart, Shante Taylor, in 1997, and together, they have two sons and one daughter.

The couple however, filed for divorce in 2004. Black Doctor reports that the rap artist canceled the court proceedings, and in 2018, he organized a vow renewal ceremony for his wife of 23 years.