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The Way Back Home
Aug. 6th, 2007 01:04 pmThis morning, instead of driving the Thruway from Oneida to Syracuse, I decided to take the back roads as far as Canastota. Along the way, in someone's front yard, I noticed a hand-made sign that said, "3,439 dead. It's time to bring them home."
Then, shortly after I'd gotten on the Thruway for the remainder of my own trip home, I passed a car that had a bumper sticker with a peace symbol and the words, "Back by popular demand." As an aging veteran of the anti-war movement of the '60s and '70s, I felt both comforted and saddened by these signs of a reawakening national conscience.
Tomorrow morning, my nephew Erik, recently released from service after four tours in Iraq with the Army's 2/75 Rangers, will be driving from his home in northern California to the funeral in Washington State of fellow Ranger Jason M. Kessler, KIA July 30th in northern Iraq.
For Erik, the most recent deployment by Charlie company, 2nd of the 75th, was the toughest--because he wasn't with them. Before they left, one of Erik's buddies, who was traveling back to Ft. Lewis by motorcycle, overnighted at my sister's. She said then that Erik was visibly conflicted.
This past weekend, an article appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard under the headline, "Cop raised gun and didn't shoot." It described an incident at a local police station in which a recently returned vet, distraught over events of the past and prospects for the future, attempted to induce what some have called "cop-assisted suicide."
Facing what appeared to be a loaded assault rifle, the officer put his own life on the line to preserve that of a troubled human being. The article went on to note that such incidents are happening with increasing frequency and often tragic outcomes.
Unlike that brave cop, most of us will never have to make such a decision while staring down the muzzle of a loaded gun. But we do need to consider how we welcome these men and women home. Especially those of us who are adamantly opposed to war as an instrument of foreign policy. Especially those of us lucky enough to have our loved ones back, alive and whole.
Tomorrow, our thoughts and prayers will be with the family of Corporal Kessler. But what happens after Taps are played and the flag is folded and the last echo of the honor guard's volley has died among the hills?
Each of us who lives in a free society, regardless of our political persuasion, needs to think about what we can do to heal this nation, to be sure that those who have come back to us are truly home.
Then, shortly after I'd gotten on the Thruway for the remainder of my own trip home, I passed a car that had a bumper sticker with a peace symbol and the words, "Back by popular demand." As an aging veteran of the anti-war movement of the '60s and '70s, I felt both comforted and saddened by these signs of a reawakening national conscience.
Tomorrow morning, my nephew Erik, recently released from service after four tours in Iraq with the Army's 2/75 Rangers, will be driving from his home in northern California to the funeral in Washington State of fellow Ranger Jason M. Kessler, KIA July 30th in northern Iraq.
For Erik, the most recent deployment by Charlie company, 2nd of the 75th, was the toughest--because he wasn't with them. Before they left, one of Erik's buddies, who was traveling back to Ft. Lewis by motorcycle, overnighted at my sister's. She said then that Erik was visibly conflicted.
This past weekend, an article appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard under the headline, "Cop raised gun and didn't shoot." It described an incident at a local police station in which a recently returned vet, distraught over events of the past and prospects for the future, attempted to induce what some have called "cop-assisted suicide."
Facing what appeared to be a loaded assault rifle, the officer put his own life on the line to preserve that of a troubled human being. The article went on to note that such incidents are happening with increasing frequency and often tragic outcomes.
Unlike that brave cop, most of us will never have to make such a decision while staring down the muzzle of a loaded gun. But we do need to consider how we welcome these men and women home. Especially those of us who are adamantly opposed to war as an instrument of foreign policy. Especially those of us lucky enough to have our loved ones back, alive and whole.
Tomorrow, our thoughts and prayers will be with the family of Corporal Kessler. But what happens after Taps are played and the flag is folded and the last echo of the honor guard's volley has died among the hills?
Each of us who lives in a free society, regardless of our political persuasion, needs to think about what we can do to heal this nation, to be sure that those who have come back to us are truly home.
