Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Thanks to our veterans, who fought so we did not have to. The greatest tribute we could ever give them would be to peacefully preserve the freedom that they fought to protect. And thanks to them for preserving memories, very painful memories, so that we need not (though we often do) repeat the mistakes of the past. It must pain them so when revisionists, who were not there, tell a different story.
A special thanks to E. Carver McGriff, who fought side-by-side with my Uncle Earl, who did not come back, for revealing to my family how he fought and died. A story that until recently, died along with him in a small village in France.
“Some one dragged Earl Brewer next to me. The shell which had hit me in the legs and arm had torn his chest open, My friend and Sergeant looked up at me pleadingly. He tried to say something, then his eyes rolled back and he died. I have thought of Earl many times in recent years. We shared the most significant, traumatic month of our lives, enduring countless artillery barrages, struggling against the sheer misery of life on the the battlefield, and then our final battle. Suddenly a flood of grief caught me by surprise, all for Earl Brewer. I couldn’t tell if it was for Earl alone or whether Earl was a symbol…for all the men who’d been my friends in France and never came home.” (from Making Sense of Normandy, by E. Carver McGriff).
My Advice – Our veterans came home, bearing burdens we can only imagine. Thank a veteran today. On our last contact (about a year ago), Mr. McGriff was still alive. Thank you sir for your service. And thanks for the memory that previously was lost to us.
You can read more about this memory on my May 3, 2020 musings, “What’s Happened Here.”
The Brew Is A Musing 