I don’t know why barry went on that particular day or what his true personal mission was but in the end it doesn’t matter.
It was wrong.
Those courageous souls gave everything they had in life. The government should not have control over them in death.
Their families wishes should be followed. Every family’s wishes, without any deviance.
I hope that was true in this case.
My father and all five uncles served in WWII. I don’t know what they would have wanted for themselves or their buddies. They didn’t talk about their service because they were the “lucky ones who made it home”.
I watched a single transfer. I felt I should bear witness out of respect for the fallen.
I was wrong.
It was an intrusion into a sacred ceremony. A final rite that should be performed with a uniform silent dignity – each of the fallen given full attention by their fellow soldier.
It is something that should be experienced only by those who have a direct bond, whether by family or by service.
One goes because one belongs there – not to be seen to have been there.
And that was the only reason for the press.
The cameras were not there to document the soldier’s courage in the face of death – they shouldn’t be allowed to politicize the soldier’s sacrifice after death.
The Fort Hood Memorial Service was different. It was televised and open to the public. It happened in the midst of a community and not on the battlefield and not only soldiers were shot. And it was something the Commander-in-Chief was expected to speak at to the nation and to the world.
Thank you to every servicemember – past, present, citizen or not – for volunteering to risk your lives for our Freedoms.
