In honor
A worthy read on this day from John Guzlowski: November 11, 1918–The Day World War I Ended.
I knew these guys too, but also my father, grandfather, uncles.
They carried the scars too, but without outward travail. They flew the flag, honored the fallen veterans by placing flags and serving funeral detail. They were Legionaries, and members of the VFW.
They suffered quietly through the indignity of being forgotten in overcrowded, understaffed Veterans hospitals. My grandfather died there, interspersed with the insane, the terminal, the others long forgotten, except by the dedicated who did more than while away the time.
All in tribute to the men and women who went into the fray and withstood the neglect and wrath of their own government. Remember the treatment of the Bonus Army.
Remember all of them, living and deceased, in your prayers today. Remember too, those who are in Iraq and Afghanistan, who will come back in pain, not whole in body, spirit, or mind. Those who will come home where the expectation will be that they slip quietly into memory.
God have mercy on us.
Deacon, Thank you for mentioning my blog.
That old veteran’s death was the first death I experienced. I was only 5 or 6, but what it showed me was that death teaches us something very important about living and about dying, something that we need to listen to–carefully.
Ponchek — despite the troubles he experienced and the problems he had after the war — finally was at peace with what was happening to him.