I was thinking about the reason for our celebration of Memorial day over this past week end. And I think it’s good and right that we honor those men and women who have given their lives in the service of our country, but I wonder if we spend enough time honoring those who served, were maimed in some way, physically or emotionally, and who still have to live to the best of their ability with little help from the rest of us.
Those men and women are too often forgotten, I fear. Many of them live very anonymous lives, in fact. The streets and alley ways of many cities are peopled by the homeless who suffered severely in Vietnam and Korea and now Iraq and Afghanistan. And they have yet to find a way to live among us.
I just listened to the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. It was the true story of Louis Zamperini, a POW fighter bombardier in Japan in WWII. His treatment and the conditions in the camp were so deplorable and unimaginably cruel, that it was hard to listen to at times and impossible to truly imagine. He survived however, and still lives in Torrance, California. At 93, he’s one of the lucky ones who was able to reclaim his life but not easily. No one, after going through a war, reclaims their life, state-side, easily.
This post is not meant to be political, in any way. I am not preaching against war, but I do wish, as a nation, we could move less quickly onto the battlefield. The repercussions for families, whether their loved one lives or dies, are so painful. Because of that, my intention in this post is to ask that we pay special homage to all of those who served and survived to come home. Let them know how much their service meant; let them know we’d like to help them in any way we can; let them know that they still matter very much to all of us.
And while you are at it, let the average Joe on every street corner know they matter too by flashing them a smile or a helping hand. There is simply too little attention being paid to every one. Let’s see if if we can’t change how we honor all people in what remains of this year. Starting now!
