Sitting in church today, Mother’s Day, I was struck by a thought: Why do so many service men and women cry out to their mothers when they are near death? Is it because their mothers warmly held them when they first saw the world? Is it because they helped form their values, took care of their day-to-day needs and activities, and helped them to become independent adults? Is it because our mothers surround us with unconditional love, and that is what we need at the end of our lives? Then, my mind went further to question whether we will ever beat our weapons into plowshares as Christ said we should. More importantly, are our mothers the only reason that this world has survived all these bloody wars?
We love our families, hold our mothers closer, but then realize we would be very strange creatures without them. The government claims to hold the idea of families sacred, yet they send our service people everywhere to fight in the world. The Afghanistan warrior used his heart more than his mind. America has air superiority everywhere in the world, but in Afghanistan, the war was won in the dirt. Bombs killed, but mushroom clouds still rose from the aftermath with pain, anger, and hatred. Afghanistan’s grief was messy, but that war made America do many things it regrets, possibly forever. Our military cried out for their mothers as their life-blood spilled on the dirt.
The Vietnam War left its scars on many of my generation. For myself, I lost three very dear friends, and another friend fought nightmares where he vividly saw himself killing women and children at the order of his commanding officer. Those nightmares caused him to take his own life. Usually, we are judged by what we do, but in reality, we are haunted by what we don’t do. Many came home from that war, put their uniforms in their duffel bags, and never opened them again. However, for those who did open their duffel bags, the memories flooded back, the smell of war rose from their uniforms, and tears came if they allowed them to. I know now that Tom needed to open his bag to forgive his soul. You see, Vietnam era soldiers fought the enemy, but the enemy was also themselves. It was within all of us at the time. 58,000 of our military cried out for their mothers as they, too, saw their blood on the ground.
The Korean War was known as the “non-war,” the war that wasn’t a war, and yet, thousands of Americans left to go to war to fight for us. Ironically, they didn’t do it for us; they fought, heroically, for each other in freezing conditions that many of us run from. We can’t change the past, but we can change our perspective about this war. We don’t know America’s future, but we can dream about a more beautiful world without tyrants, dictators, and demagogues. We can live for the present by bringing peace to others and by being what we want others to be to us. For the soldiers that cried out for their mothers on that frozen tundra, we need to bring justice and respect to all who needed us to say, “Thank you!”
As the years have passed, World War II soldiers’ sacrifices have more than molded our lives; they have filled the spaces in our lives when times are tough or when we are feeling lost. Their acts of courage and heroism and bold, life-changing decisions continue to influence America’s direction and its future. Many of the men who fought in this war felt any man who loves life and is not willing to die for it is not a man. WWII soldiers believed that change was imperative for all future positive consequences. They believed when you lose your self-respect, you lose everything dear in life. America must never be willing to accept a super race, super idea, or anything super ever again. Many people were lost during this war on both sides, but it was right for America to pursue the truth with its young men. And as an encouragement to future generations, Tom Hanks, playing the part of a dying captain defending a bridge that crossed into Germany, said in “Saving Private Ryan,” “Earn this!” Our service men and women have done just that since 1945.
Our service men and women fight for us and themselves on those battlefields far away, but if they pay the supreme sacrifice with their lives, the blood they shed is for their loved ones, proudly for their mothers. They reach out for their mothers’ arms and for their sweet, calming voices. God gives us our mothers so that we will know His unconditional love. I have never been a soldier, but many have been in my family. One of the last names I will say as I take my last breaths will be, “Mom-ma. Please take me in your arms one last time and walk with me to be with God!”
Anna Hartt
