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Jewish World Review Nov. 7, 2005 / 5 Mar-Cheshvan, 5766 The Veteran’s Soul By Tom Purcell
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
With Veterans Day to be celebrated this Friday, it's worth reading a book called "Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul."
In it, John McCain tells a story about a fellow named Mike, who had been shot down in 1967 and captured by the Vietnamese. Mike grew up poor in Alabama. He didn't wear shoes until he was 13. Character was his only wealth.
One day, the guards discovered Mike's flag and confiscated it. They took Mike outside and beat him severely, puncturing his eardrum and breaking several ribs. Later, as everyone else had fallen asleep, McCain noticed Mike in the corner under the light bulb. With his eyes nearly swollen shut, Mike quietly picked up his needle and began sewing a new flag.
There are numerous other tales about servicemen and women that will give you goose bumps and bring tears to your eyes.
One fellow explains how he was blown off the USS Astoria. He grabbed his rubber lifebelt and inflated it, and it kept him afloat for several hours. He became fond of the lifebelt, particularly since it was made in his home town of Akron, Ohio.
During his next leave, he told his family his survival tale and showed them the lifebelt. His mother picked it up and was amazed at what she saw. She had been an inspector at a local rubber plant. Her inspection number was on the lifebelt that saved her son's life.
Another man, whose family practiced bigotry and racism during his childhood, taught his own children to treat every man with dignity and respect, regardless of their skin color — partly because of what he experienced in World War II.
His name was Sergeant L.G. Pool, a former bull rider out of Texas, and he rode the Sherman tank he commanded with the same enthusiasm. He was always the first out front and the last to wrap up for the day.
One night, he found himself out of fuel, trapped five miles behind enemy lines. Pool and his men were sitting ducks. While they hoarded their shells, calculating the best targets to fire at, two other men volunteered to travel five miles on foot carrying a five gallon can of fuel. They were guided to Pool's tank by the sight and sound of gunfire, and Pool and his men were saved because of their bravery.
One of the volunteers was Native American, the other African-American.
Other stories celebrate the best of the human spirit. There's a story about four chaplains on a sinking ship. There weren't enough lifebelts to go around and each of the four took theirs off and strapped them onto others. The chaplains died when the ship went down.
There is a story of an American GI in Germany during WWII. His battalion had pushed back the Germans near a small Belgian town. Later that morning, he heard church bells ringing. He saw a priest begin the service, but there was no altar boy. The American GI went to the altar and performed the job.
After mass he followed the priest into the sacristy, and, as is the custom, kept his hand in the prayer position while the priest removed his garments. The priest was wearing a German officer's uniform — he was a chaplain in the German army. The men shook hands and parted, both exhilarated by the truth that "even in war our common humanity, under the same G-d, can triumph over hatred and division
It's an oddity of human existence that in the midst of the hell of war, human goodness and beauty are at their highest. That's just something else to remember as we honor our veterans next Friday, and pray for the men and women who are in harm's way right now.
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© 2005, Tom Purcell |
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