 |
PatchWork
by Joyce Whitis |
Veterans Day 1997
" I was helping my mother take down a picket fence. Oh maybe I wasn't really helping much but anyway I thought I was. And all of a sudden the whistles started blowing, bells in town were ringing, so I ran to my mother and grabbed her by the leg. Mother, Mother what is it?" I looked up into her face which seemed to be exceedingly calm.
"Why the armistice is signed," she said. " The war to end all wars is over."
And right there in the middle of the garden, with sweet potato vines looping across the ground, she knelt down in the red dirt and began to pray. She prayed that it was indeed the end of war and that I, her only son then 6 years old, would never ever have to go away to fight in some lonely place.
"It all made an impression on me, all that bell ringing, whistle blowing, and especially the sight of my mother on her knees in the garden out there in the sweet potato vines. She said the armistice was signed at the 11th hour of the 11th day on the 11th month. And that was that. She thanked God that there would never be another way in which her son would have to fight."
J.D. McDonald
Mama was wrong!
There have been wars since the beginning, family wars, tribal wars, state against state, nation against nation, castle against castle, frontiersman against Indians, Martins against McCoys. It seems like it is the nature of mankind to fight and to fight often and to fight hard.
When we study the history of the United States, we face the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, Spanish American War, The Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and the Viet-Nam War.
If you are a Texan there is one war that is most important and that is the war to gain independence from Mexico. The Battle of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto immediately come to mind.
To veterans, for which this day is set aside and celebrated across the country, soldiers are generally busy, when they aren't dying in fox holes or being blown away by hidden land mines or sinking into the vast ocean from a ship broadsided by a low sailing torpedo; or lying across a barbed wire entanglement crying for water; or guiding a helicopter over a jungle melted by napalm; or perched in a leafless tree with a 30-30 carbine picking off any enemy who shows his ugly head; or crawling through the Cyprus knees in a swamp full of green snakes and making his way toward that one little ray of light....soldiers are generally busy polishing their rifles and making square corners on their bunks.
Soldiers enter the service as green as can be and come out seasoned and ready to tackle anything. Letters from those in service send back through time one message..let's see what that message is.
June 21, 1863 Vicksburg
"The boys have dug pits in the hills and covered them over with pieces of old tents left behind by the rebels. There are no hopes of being able to celebrate the 4th of July with our friends at home. Opinions vary as to how much longer the rebels can hold out. Seventy shells were seen to burst in one of their forts. They hold on to the beleaguered garrison with an endurance and obstinacy worthy of a better cause." Lieut. R.W. Burt
" The Federal Artillery fire began and continued for forty-eight days and nights. We confederate soldiers served continuously in the trenches, exposed to the scorching midsummer sun and to chilling nights. There were no troops to relieve us and afford an opportunity to rest. We went for days without food except for what little those within the city could sneak out and supply. We were all reduced to eating rats or anything else that we could capture. On July 4, what was left of the brigade, stacked arms, evacuated the trenches and were marched to the rear of the works. The masses of dead were buried in Potter's Field, far from the sunshine of Dixie and home."
Dunbar Rowland
France, 1917
"There is no sound in the post. A faint greenish light filters down from the quiet woods. Martin is kneeling beside a stretcher where lies a mass of torn blue uniform crossed in several places by strips of white bandages clotted with dark blood. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"Nothing"
"But you haven't told me yet, how's Merrier?"
"A shell....dead....poor chap"
"And Lully?"
"Dead."
"And Duabois?"
"Everybody's dead."
"I'm alive....... and you. We must be careful."
John Dos Passos, WWI
December 10, 1941
"Dear Folks,
Well, I guess you know that I won't likely be coming home for Christmas as we had planned. When that cowardly attack on Pearl Harbor took place, all passes were canceled. What do the Japs think they are doing? Don't they know that they can't take on the United States of America? We are under sail now and will arrive in Hawaii within 24 hours. Never fear for my safety. God is with me now and always. Long live America and sink the Jap Navy!."
Capt. John Powers U.S.N.
"I remember June 28, 1948 very well. I went downtown in Dallas and walked right in the Marine Corps Recruiting Office. After I signed up, they sent me to take a physical. I rode the bus home and told my mother and father. I took a train to San Diego. That was my first train ride.
"We headed for Korea in June of 1950. It took 17 days and we went through the tail of a hurricane. After we landed we spent one night on the beach under a truck. There was a sniper in a tree about 100 yards from me. Somebody shot him during the night."
April 20, 1965
Okinawa
] Dear Mrs. Kuehler,
It looks like I'll get to see Viet Nam soon so I guess if I ever see you again I'll have quite a story to tell. I was planning to send you a small gift but things didn't work out that way. I've only 3 or 4 minutes before the lights go out. Wish me luck in Viet Nam. I think I will need it! I am very scared about this war. What does it all mean?"
As always your friend, Jerry