TRAVELING WALL

This past week we have had the honor of having the Traveling Wall come from Spokane to Moses Lake, Washington. Since my husband belongs to the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association here in Washington he was one of the many motorcyclists that helped escort the Traveling Wall.
Our daughter went to the opening ceremony and she told me that to see that Wall and know what it stands for and then to hear the National Anthem sung completely overwhelmed her. She began to cry.
My mind slipped back to the past. I remembered a friend with whom I had gone to school from the seventh grade through high school. After graduation she met and married a young man, Charlie. They were only married for about a week when he was shipped to Viet Nam. During that week she became pregnant. Charlie was the only child of parents that had both served in the Armed Forces. Four months after he was shipped out to Viet Nam we had a couple of Military personnel show up at our door. They were looking for my friend. My father had been in the service for twenty three years so we knew the news was not good. Charlie had been killed. I'll never forget that funeral. Charlie was to be a father but he would never hold his beautiful daughter. Charlie's story was not the only one. There were many like his.
Those that were fortunate enough to return home were spit upon and called names. I will never forget THAT either! The cry during that time was peace and love. Yup, they sure showed it.
They didn't realize that peace and love are impossible when you have elitists who are greedy and power hungry while wearing a mantle of respectability to cover their corruption so they can gain positions of power and run this country.
Now we have a man that refuses to wear a flag pin because he might be perceived as taking America's side on the world stage. This same man doesn't like our National Anthem because it denotes war. The scary part is that he is running for president of our nation and there are Americans that are actually considering him for that position. Is there no logic or reasonableness left in this world?
Have we learned anything from Viet Nam? Perhaps a little, but not enough.
I've heard the following statements many times. "We support our troops. We just don't support the war." That folks, is a play on words that our society has learned well. What you are telling our troops is, we support you but we don't support the work you do or the bravery you show in the face of danger every day.
We have a grandson that will probably be deployed to Iraq as well as our youngest son that is going there. Do I worry about them? Of course I do. I will be doing a lot of praying for them both. They both have families. They also know that we support them in every way.
Do we want our troops to come home? Yes we do, but let's do it in a reasonable and honorable way.