My uncle, Wesley Parrish served in WWII and was a POW of the Japanese. He went on with his life and never talked about the experience. He worked hard and had a family because that's how it was done in those days.
Years later, his son--my cousin, Steve--went to Viet Nam. He came home and went on with his life. Like his father, he worked hard and had a family.
Steve's son, Troy is now over in Afghanistan. He's been deployed for the fourth time. His wife just had their first child.
So, here we are celebrating a holiday for all those veterans and service people, and I can't help wondering--when will it get better? Is it the destiny of the free world to keep "putting out fires" forever?
11 comments:
Thank you for remembering them. I started to make a list, and it was too long.
Every generation of my family has served in a war/conflict. Those who went before must be weeping to see that nothing has changed.
Jane x
And sadly starting some fires of their own...
I don't expect to see it change and admire those who are able to come back and go on with their lives. My father did the same thing. He received medals in WWII that indicate he was in the middle of some terrible things. He never talked about it either.
I hope your cousin's son comes home safely and goes on to live a joy-filled life with his family.
And I hope my hopelessness is proven wrong.
Makes me go cold inside when I think of all of those people doing things they didn't want to do in places they didn't want to be for reasons that should never have arisen. I'm glad and grateful that they did - but like Mitch I have little confidence in the ability of the human species to grow up any time soon.
My grandad Cyril never really spoke about his service during WW2, just little bits to my mum. Apparently he was a red beret paratrooper.
Thank you to your family for serving above and beyond the call of duty. The social scientists say war and peace are conflicted in human nature. The older I get, the more I think they're right.
I've had a Grandfather, Father, and uncles who served in previous wars. They never spoke about it. I had one friend that did two tours in Viet Nam.....and we cried together as he talked about it.
My prayers that this will be the last generation to know war. I continue to hope, although the world doesn't seem to be showing any improvement. My prayers for your cousin in Afghanistan and his colleagues.
Your family should be proud of its sacrifice by the generations...
And my dad felt the same way about Minneapolis. We only visited once a year as my mom insisted on seeing the Daytons Christmas window display. My dad said St. Paul was mentioned in the bible many time and Minneapolis... not once. :)
Great post. Thank you so much for sharing.
I hope this will be the last generation to go to war, but I fear not. Hope all goes well with your relative and all the others in Afghanistan.
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