To Honor The Fallen

For some years now, I've included images of two of our soldiers who've given their lives while serving during our War on Terrorism on the envelopes I use to pay my bills and other correspondence. Under the photo I include the branch, rank, name, age, hometown & state, and date of death. Under the address I have the words: "Their duty was to protect our freedoms, Our duty is to never forget their sacrifice" which pretty much sums up why I do this. The soldiers are chosen at random. To date I've shared the images of about 500 of the nearly 5,900 soldiers who've paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Today, I arrived home to find an envelope from the Strong's of Vermont. Inside was a photocopy of this envelope given to them by the postmaster, Sonya, at the USPO in Irasburg where my bill had been misdirected. They in turn sent me information on their son, on their journey toward meaning after his death, and a truly magnanimous note expressing their appreciation for my little tribute. Never in all of the years that I have been doing this did I ever imagine the family or loved ones of a fallen soldier would encounter their child's/sibling's/spouse's/parent's image on one. And if they did, I wondered would they understand the profoundly respectful attitude that I feel toward this little act of tribute? Now, I have one answer to that question.

I wrote the Strong's back and told them that I would never understand their pain, but through the things that they sent me I could clearly see their love and pride in their son. It doesn't matter what we think of the war when it comes to honoring those who died in pursuit of freedom. I hope we American friends and neighbors can always agree on that point.