After spending a little time prepping my backyard gardens for winter (and it’s colder today than I thought it was gonna be!), I retreat inside and have been adding images to my database of U.S. soldiers killed in the War on Terrorism. I have collected photos now of over 3,200 of the estimated 3,875 killed in Iraq and have a total surpassing 4,000 face shots of the brave American military members killed in all of the theatres of this War (i.e. Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, the Philippines, etc.)
From time to time the search leads me to moments of revelation, moments that lead me to more profound feelings. While adding images to my archive of soldiers from Massachusetts, I happened upon this quote in an article about Marine Lance Cpl. Edward M. Gavin of Malden:
“During her husband's funeral, Melissa Garvin recalled her wedding day when she caught Edward M. Garvin wearing his favorite green shorts, singing to himself in the mirror, "Going to the chapel and I'm going to get married." "I strongly believe he is with us today," she said. If he could say something, "he'd say something silly to make us laugh," she said. "That's what he would have wanted." Garvin, 19, of Malden, Mass., was killed in combat Oct. 4 in Anbar province.”
Can you get the image of this vibrant young couple on the eve of their nuptials in your mind's eye...in your heart? Sweet young people about to join in the act of holy matrimony, a covenant of blessings to one another, to their families, to their community…OUR “community”.
And, again I wondered about our “enemy”. Don’t they fall in love? Don’t they sing silly songs on the eves of their weddings? Don’t they desire to live in a world in which they can bless their love, bless their loved ones, and die in peace at a ripe old age?
Is there not a way, on this our fragile island-home that we call earth, to meet our enemies with tears of fear and tears of joy so that they no longer represent more to us in our understanding than “the other.”? When will we strip the artifice of nationality, of religiosity, of gender, and sexual expression, of all that separates us from one another away and wage a war of unity whose goal is a peace based on our reverence for one another, for community, for the holiness of life?
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