Remembering

Today is Veterans Day.   We remember those alive or dead, permanently wounded or healed – the many men and women who have risked or given their lives for our country.  Most have not willingly died but were willing to risk everything for what they held dear – liberty and defense of freedom for ourselves and others.  

Many men and women have been volunteers signing up for one or a few tours of duty – some as careers.    In years gone by, such as during the heinous Vietnam War, many young men just out of High School were drafted and forced to serve and then deal with the horrors of combat and serious injury - seen and unseen.  Many families dealt with unspeakable losses.  

Personally, I have no real clue about those horrors because I never experienced them.   But I know many who have and now these veterans continue to return from the Middle Eastern deserts and cities where wars are fought from building to building and from street to street.  The movies American Sniper (2014) and The Hurt Locker (2009) help us better understand the nightmare conditions under which our soldiers continue to fight.

Often visiting Washington, D.C. on business, I always find the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall compelling.  Visit the website United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and click on the upper right video describing objects left at the Wall, especially religious objects from every faith.  Warmongers of every stripe play no favorites, and the demons with whom they are in league beam, especially when they see children and young men playing desensitizing video games glorifying mayhem and the gore of war.  Such a disservice to our veterans - alive or deceased!

Deacon David Pierce