On November 11th, sleep in, go shopping, see a movie. But please do take a moment to remember what this day is really all about.
At our house, we will be lighting a candle for my special army buddies, Colonel Earl Edward McBride, Jr., Harold Nye, and Donald Hogue. I am so fortunate to have met them, and so grateful to them for their friendship, for the stories they shared, and for their service to our country. They went to war as untested young men, and came home heroes, bearing scars inside and out that would change them forever.
I will be writing to my friend Jack Oliver, a very kind and wise WWII vet who went to boot camp with my Uncle Lewis in 1944. I will thank him for his service to our country in a horrible war that saved the world. Jack helped me understand not only what it meant to serve in the war, but also to understand the wrenching pain of coming home, when so many young men did not.
And tomorrow, as we light our candles yet again, we will be thinking of my father, Harry Baltuck, and Remembering Uncle Lewis.
All words and images copyright 2012 Naomi Baltuck.
Writing Between the Lines 