image credit: unknownThe stories this man tells about what happened abroad nearly 65 years ago alternately send chills and inspire awe. He's careful about which stories he tells when the kids are around, but he did show them how his fake knee (the real joint was wrecked when his submarine was torpedoed) pops when it's moved from side to side. He told me he sometimes wishes there was a doctor who could open up his head and take out the worst memories of what he witnessed during WWII and in Korea. He was a P.O.W.
My dad is a vet, too, as are several of my friends and students. I'm not a war romantic, and I still have enough Jesus freak/nouveau hippy protester in me to believe war should be avoided whenever possible.
But sometimes it can't be avoided, unless you consider capitulation a victory. And I know full well how absolutely blessed I am to live in a land where the kind of men and women who don't consider capitulation a victory can still be found in abundance.
Today, my Thank You goes to them.
Good picture and blog. I was just looking at a picture of my father in uniform. And noting an article in the Wall Street Journal by Melinda Beck which confirmed my biases about memory: in sum, it is way over-rated. Forgetting some things and people is what is best for mental health.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice tribute and I wish I could hear this man's stories too!
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