Veterans Day 2010
Remember the Fallen . . . The face in the picture drew me in. So much warmth and vitality in his smiling face. What would he have been like today? A doctor? A writer? A businessman? Hard working and good-humored I am sure of that much. I think he would have been a great family man and, if a father, full of love and warmth for his children. These were dreams unrealized because of a life far too short. As my eyes widened to that inward reflection, I wondered why things had turned out the way they did. It could just as easily been me long since dead. This is the burden of one who remains. Survivor guilt. I can hear his voice so clearly and after so many years as we waded in the surf of the South China Sea. "Are you afraid of dying D?" "I never really thought about it Jim. No, I guess not." "I am." The humid air and blazing sun baked us. Jim's comments dampened the conversation and made me uncomfortable. "Why was