This morning, July 5, 2023 at 2:44, after the fireworks had ceased and the streets were nearly silent of celebratory excitement, I read excerpts from your collection of the testimony of men and women who had participated in the ravages of the historic, Battle of Gettysburg, July 1- 3, 1863.
My step-father, an officer and a certified dentist, had served in WW II, and spoke to me of the work he did on the broken bodies of his fellow soldiers. It was from him that I learned of the "gueule cassee", and the surgical efforts to repair their faces.
Years later, he suffered a mental breakdown in the course of marrying my mother, a widow with three children, which increased his household to a staggering eight children within a year of our moving into his home and dental office. As our mother was in hospital birthing the last addition, Pop returned to drink after abstaining for years after Nuremberg, Germany where he was the US officer in charge of the liquor supplies. That was the story he related to me, the oldest of his combined brood.
As our newly transported cat Timmy (short for timid, and a symbol of compassion), lay writhing in death pangs, Pop confessed to me and my brother, he had poisoned our beloved cat. The drunken veteran suggested that if we stepped out of line, this would happen to us. David and I went on to become highly motivated, family-oriented adults; our brilliant step-brother, witnessing this horror, struggled throughout, acknowledging that his was the worst day of his life!
From this I conclude that love is eternal, and death is an illusion from which few ever awaken! Please don't ask me to explain; I just write the stuff as it appears before my eyes.
Thank you stating this deeply personal and moving recollection. There are no words that I can write that fully address how awful that was, but I can say that I was deeply moved by your story. It conveyed the pain of loss and brokenness that comes out of the experience of war and its aftermath. Thank you for sharing.
Such powerful testimony. One would think the words of the witnesses to war would be enough to end all future wars.
The work you’ve done here is so profoundly affecting I can’t imagine anyone reading it wouldn’t carry it with them for life, strong enough to bee free humanity would negotiate all disputes but it doesn’t. Why hasn’t it?
This morning, July 5, 2023 at 2:44, after the fireworks had ceased and the streets were nearly silent of celebratory excitement, I read excerpts from your collection of the testimony of men and women who had participated in the ravages of the historic, Battle of Gettysburg, July 1- 3, 1863.
My step-father, an officer and a certified dentist, had served in WW II, and spoke to me of the work he did on the broken bodies of his fellow soldiers. It was from him that I learned of the "gueule cassee", and the surgical efforts to repair their faces.
Years later, he suffered a mental breakdown in the course of marrying my mother, a widow with three children, which increased his household to a staggering eight children within a year of our moving into his home and dental office. As our mother was in hospital birthing the last addition, Pop returned to drink after abstaining for years after Nuremberg, Germany where he was the US officer in charge of the liquor supplies. That was the story he related to me, the oldest of his combined brood.
As our newly transported cat Timmy (short for timid, and a symbol of compassion), lay writhing in death pangs, Pop confessed to me and my brother, he had poisoned our beloved cat. The drunken veteran suggested that if we stepped out of line, this would happen to us. David and I went on to become highly motivated, family-oriented adults; our brilliant step-brother, witnessing this horror, struggled throughout, acknowledging that his was the worst day of his life!
From this I conclude that love is eternal, and death is an illusion from which few ever awaken! Please don't ask me to explain; I just write the stuff as it appears before my eyes.
Babette,
Thank you stating this deeply personal and moving recollection. There are no words that I can write that fully address how awful that was, but I can say that I was deeply moved by your story. It conveyed the pain of loss and brokenness that comes out of the experience of war and its aftermath. Thank you for sharing.
Peace,
Steve
Such powerful testimony. One would think the words of the witnesses to war would be enough to end all future wars.
The work you’ve done here is so profoundly affecting I can’t imagine anyone reading it wouldn’t carry it with them for life, strong enough to bee free humanity would negotiate all disputes but it doesn’t. Why hasn’t it?
Sorry for typos I was half asleep and very moved by the letters these men wrote and what they saw and suffered.