If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and one backward glance when you are leaving, for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not always have. Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.
Major Michael Davis O’Donnell
January 1, 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
KIA Cambodia, March 24, 1970
January 1, 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
KIA Cambodia, March 24, 1970
Beautiful. So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Thank you for being here!
DeleteYes, this certainly is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jan. The first times I heard the music...and the first time I read the poem...I was so moved!
DeleteSuch a bittersweet reminder, Andrew! Yes, we need to take a moment in the day-to-day, but especially during the birthday of our nation to remember and give thanks for those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Thank you for leading the way in this with Michael's mention above. Did you know this man? I'm thinking you were not old enough to be in the Vietnam War, but only memorializing someone who died there. But if you knew him, my condolences go out to you as well then.
ReplyDeletePraying you are making it through each day with a determination to beat back death!
Beth, I didn't now him; I wish I had.
DeleteI'm still here, still fighting. It's very hard now.
After reading this, and your blog on Kara’s Mundane Faithfulness blog, I am overwhelmed at your strength and selflessness. I am blessed just by reading your words. I pray that God’s love and spirit surround you and ease your way! I am sure that He is looking at you with love and saying “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” God bless you Andrew...and as always, I continue to bombard heaven for prayers for you and Barbara!
ReplyDeleteSharon, I'm just so honoured by your words! Thank you for this. God's presence is here, and He's showing me the way down this dark road.
DeleteWe are so grateful for your prayers. They're really, really needed these days.
"Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not always have." This is a hard on for me. I have loved so imperfectly (as most of us have, I guess). Thank you for giving me the grace to acknowledge I did my best. <3
ReplyDeletePaula, it's hard for me, too...but in the end all we can do is our best, and leave it to Grace to bridge that which we coud not.
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