General Kelly, President Trump and Us All...

I took these photographs over a year ago the United States Military Cemetery at Luxembourg, tiny country near France and Belgium. The names of those killed in the battles there are listed one by one. General Patton liberated Luxembourg and the people of that village were so grateful that they wanted to erect a large stature of the General in their town. Patton's widow said No. Bury him with his fellow soldiers. And even though this grave stands apart--he is buried with that band brothers he served with. He is surrounded. 

I was moved terribly by those rows and rows of crosses and the names of those buried there. And the crosses that represented those whose names have been lost to history. 

General Kelly spoke to the nation the other day in words that touched most of us. Having lost a son in the service he knows what those crosses mean. He also attempted to cover his boss's words and actions yet again. The bruha over this whole matter of the four servicemen that died in Niger has gotten lost in the media mess. 

I feel this is simply a sad illustration of how we as a nation have ignored the sacrifices of those that still serve in far away places. It took our President weeks to acknowledge those that died in Niger. And when he finally did speak he horrified so many of us by piously taking yet another swipe at President Obama and George Bush and others who he said, probably had not reached out the families of those service people that died, as he had. It is hard with families awash in grief to even fathom the insensitivity of our Commander in chief. Whatever happens it is all about him. 

No it isn't. It is about all the fallen. It is about widows and children and parents who grieve hard and long. We go about our business every day hardly thinking of all those who serve in the longest war in our history. So many of them come home in little flag draped boxes. Many of those caskets cannot be opened--those bodies are too mangled or crushed or burned to be seen. And there besides them we have all the broken, those with PTSD--whose lives are terribly shattered. 

I do not think we need to glorify war or battles. But I often wonder if we still had a draft if maybe more of us would not go about our daily tasks so casually while somebody way off dies for us. 

It isn't only our President who is insensitive. Somehow we have moved too far from the greatest generation. Maybe this whole sad week when we cannot ignore the faces of those four soldiers that died--we will begin once again to really find appropriate ways to honor our dead. And also one another.

Funny we spend hours and days ranting about some football players that will not bend their knees. Maybe the larger scandal is a nation that uses those that serve us--and never in all our days truly honor them. We just go about our lives with business as usual. There is more to patriotism than standing at attention with a hand over our hearts. 

Maybe we need to send Mr. Trump to Arlington or the Vietnam Memorial again and again. And maybe we need to send all the Congressmen and Senators along too. And maybe we all need to realize there really is more that should unite than divides us. Look again at all those crosses scattered in Arlington and in countries around the world--attention needs to be paid by all of us. This is the real patriotism. 

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com