Sacrifices @ MindSay

Today in church, at 11:11am on 11/11 2007, we paused to recognize and honor the veterans in our congregation. Today is Veteran’s Day.

Mo, Mutt and Bud may sound like three guys from a car repair supply company but they are actually my uncles (including two from my husband’s family) who served this country during WWII. They are the kind of men Tom Brokaw refers to as "the greatest generation."

Bud was a skinny, inexperienced private, trained in some new technology called "RADAR" when he got an unexpected front row view of the bombing of Pearl Harbor; and only somewhat more experienced when he was part of the land invasion that liberated the Philippines. Many years later, when he returned to the Philippines to accept a special commemorative commendation, he and his wife found themselves the intended, but unexpected victims of radicals who torched their high rise hotel, forcing Bud and Mid to tie sheets together Boy Scout style, and to escape the burning building by climbing and leaping to the relative safety of a nearby roof. Mid, his wife, suffered life-changing knee injuries that plagued her until she died. Bud lives with his kids in the midwest, lost in a dementia that keeps his war experiences alive, if only in his mind.

Mo was playing minor league ball when he answered the call to join the Marines. He was first among those who landed at Iwo Jima, historically known as some of the fiercest fighting of the Pacific war, but he was able to joke about it years later by insisting he had worked "banker’s hours" that day - landed by 9am and back on a hospital ship by 5pm, for surgery on a shoulder that was blown to bits by enemy fire. All hopes and dreams of a major league career as a pitcher sacrificed on a black sand beach somewhere in the Pacific. He can joke about it because, unlike many of his peers who died on that sand, he lived to tell about it - but the actual tale is much too horrific to share with kids and grandkids, hence the preferred jokes about "working banker’s hours." He enjoys a happy retirement in Texas, and attends veteran reunions with his new wife (after his first wife and mom to his sons died a natural death a few years back.)

Mutt was a member of the US Army’s famous "flying column" who answered the call from MacArthur to land at Manila, march 100 miles through enemy invested jungle in a desperate race to reach the civilian internees at the infamous Santo Tomas concentration camp before the Japanese could make "other arrangements" for them. The 1^st Calvary had already seen some fierce fighting at Leyte and other places, but they successfully freed the thousands of civilians before going on to be part of the planned land invasion of Tokyo. As we know, they didn’t have to invade Tokyo - instead Mutt ended up part of the color guard who stood on the deck of that battleship while MacArthur presided over the ceremony where the Emperor of Japan signed the petition of peace. Mutt lives in his Southern Ca bungalow where he’s been happily married for over fifty years, suffers from macular degeneration but still enjoys life. Last time I saw him I was dropping him off at senior center where he and his wife were joining a bus tour to Las Vegas.

Each one of these men are so special to me, and my kids - who have learned enough history to be as proud and thankful as I am of the efforts and service of these special veterans. When my husband and I took the kids recently to see the WWII Memorial in Washington DC we were especially taken with the brass bas-relief sculptures that line the left (Pacific) and right (European) sides of the entrance area. It was very meaningful to examine the pictures carefully enough to be able to understand what part of the war effort each plaque represented, and to identify soldiers in the pictures that seemed to represent each of the veterans we knew. We found each one of "our" WWII veterans on those brass plaques. "Our" vets all lived through the war. We know that other families don’t dwell on the plaques, but linger on the "Field of Stars" at the center of the memorial - stars that represent lives sacrificed in that war effort. Each star represents 100,000 souls. There are 400 stars.

Ronald Reagan said that if we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are. I remember what Mo, Bud and Mutt (and many more just like them) have done. Today is Veteran’s Day.

The World Trade Center stood as a symbol of American ingenuity and success. One sunny Tuesday morning 5 years ago, that symbol was destroyed by religious maniacs, or the politically correct term - extremists. Maybe some of us have forgotten ... ? I'm still angry!

Shattered 9/11/2001, a photo journal of the events of this day, may spark your memory.

My daughter and I recently saw the movie, The World Trade Center. The crowd sat for several minutes, absolute silence, as the credits reeled. Such devastation ... such audacity! My response to the film? ANGER! FURY, even. No, not at those who dared to attack us on our own soil. No, not at the makers of the film. It ignited an anger at the American people.

9 - 11 Heros A list of the victims of the various flights as well as the others known dead.

9/11 Digital Archive

Do you remember the days and months immediately following this horrendous event? Flags waved from every car, from every home, from trucks, and telephone poles, and traffic lights. Americans donated billions of dollars to the families of the survivors. We were united like, perhaps, never before. Our energy was focused on avenging the blood of those lost. Our differences faded in significance. We cared for one another. We listened to the words of our President and New York's Mayor Juliani, and were comforted, yet inspired to help in some way, to support the President in whatever course of action he chose.

Out of the rubble, a heroic people emerged to tend to the wounded and grief stricken. Do you remember GW saying this would challenge our resolve? Obviously it has.  Still angry? Still resolved?

New York's Mayor Rudolf Juliani became a HERO!

I became angry ... militantly irate even, as an immediate response to the "Wolrd Trade Center" film. Again, not at the criminals who attacked us, not at President Bush, nor at some unknown god, but at the American people who seem to have forgotten so quickly. The selfish hatred and political divisions that now exist in our nation seem a desecration on the memory of the bravery and selfless sacrifices made on 9/11, and a stand in stark contrast to the sacrifices and ingenuity that built this nation and made her great. It was not "government" that made the sacrifices, but Americans. It was not a President that fought at Pearl Harbor, or Gettysburg, or Flounders, or in the Iraqi desert, but ... Americans! So ... why are we busying ourselves with complaints of poor leadership? Our government is a reflection of US! Don't you get it? What has happened to the flag-waving? It has morphed into finger pointing.  Where is the self-sacrifice we saw that day and the days the followed? the caring? the compassion? the unity of purpose? Still resolved?

I listened to the President's speech tonight (9/11/06), and heard him ask the same questions. How dare we complain without getting involved! Words are cheap. Where are today's heros and heroines??? What is Freedom worth to you? Are you willing to pay for it? Is it worth some sort of personal sacrifice? Again ... where are the heroic people of this generation? I'm not talking about perfection here, just a little ingenuity and caring. We must not allow those who died to die in vain. We must not permit our opinions of government, whatever they may be, to nullify our outrage. My anger is rekindled re: the World Trade Center! Do we have a hero crisis ~ Does 9/11 still burn in you?

If you are interested in making a donation to any of the Memorial funds, click the corresponding link. Thanks!

yeah me ane my friends play this game online and i like kno thier passwords and neither of them had the Christmas specail yet so now im stayin up late....just so they can have the stuff too gosh where would they be without me?

I know I've posted this before, but ... it seems appropriate for today. Though we may not agree on the pathway, the destination is agreed upon by all. PEACE SOON!