On
the first full day of our vacation in Illinois last month, as we were driving
through the city of Marseilles, just before we crossed the bridge over the
Illinois River, I spied what looked like a park on the right side of the road.
I directed Hubby to pull in so we could check it out. He slammed on the brakes
and complied with my wishes.
Turns
out this wasn’t really a park. Instead it was the Middle East Conflicts Wall
Memorial.
Wow.
Even now, nearly two months later, I can’t write about this without tearing up.
We
all know the Vietnam War Memorial Wall and most of us know someone on it, but
the more recent Middle East Conflicts? We are still living through this. This
isn’t history, this is current events.
The
inside memorial was closed the first time we stopped, but later in the week,
when it was open and we went inside, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t read any of
the names or the stories. These weren’t men and women who could have been my
parents or even my siblings. These are warriors who could have been my son, my
daughter.
Just
like my friend’s son, Ryan, who died in combat in 2009.
What
is this holiday we celebrate tomorrow? And what are we celebrating? Life? Or
death? Let’s hope at least we celebrate freedom, the freedom that our soldiers like
Ryan fought to secure for us.
1 comment:
You know me, I cry at the drop of a hat, I would not be able to to it either. I have been fortunate that no family member, friend, or friends relative that I know have experienced the tragedy of losing a loved one from serving in our armed forces.
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