ETERNAL
REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON
THEM


Memorial Day is not just another day off .....
it's a very special holiday ...one that gives pause
for recollection.

KIA some Canisius College buddies who had joined
the Enlisted Reserve Corps with me.

A butcher from Chicago - never did get his name -
a husky, happy - type guy .... he was the first American
soldier I saw get killed. We were going up a hill -
he was talking - then stopped in the middle of a
sentence ... he was about 10 feet away from me.
My thought: "Wow, this ain't no training exercise
... these guys mean business."

In the days and weeks that followed - seeing dead
bodies was a commonplace occurrence but I was
surprised at my reaction. If the body wore a German
unifortm - there was little or no feeling ... but a
fallen American GI created a sad and sickening
reaction.

And then there were times when I encountered the
hated foe in a prisoner of war encampment. They
were young guys - just like me - they stared in a
gloomy manner - some even smiled as a means of
saying "hello"... and I thought - how strange - these
guys probably didn't want to be involved in a
shooting war any more than I did - they had families,
friends and hopes and dreams.

And yet the military lords on both sides were well
protected from harm - and counting the deaths and
injured and captives dispassionately.

And today & tomorrow it's no longer the individual
marine or infantryman or navy seal ... it's the Big
Stuff. It's no longer killing a happy butcher from
Chicago ... it's exploding huge towers and ridding
the world of thousands in one massive thrust.

So on this Memorial Day ... we remember the past
while we pray for the future.

God Help Us

Tom Decker