We are approaching the end of a long Memorial Day weekend and of Memorial Day itself.
Many will be coming home after a long day that may have included picnics, BBQ’s, parades, and hopefully visits to a cemetery, a church service or some other ceremony honoring our war deaths.
We have seen, read and heard numerous eloquent testimonials to our fallen heroes—some may say too many.
To those who think the latter, I will be one of the first ones to say “mea culpa,” but turn right around and ask you to please read one more such article.
It was suggested and written by one of our TMV readers this morning, Mary Jane Hurley Brant.
Mary Jane writes about her father, a Marine who served in the Pacific during World War II.
It is nothing pretentious, but it is written from the heart and something that will go down very sweetly and lightly at the end of this hectic weekend.
It’s simply called “Hats Off to a WWII Vet.”
Yesterday was a wonderful day. While standing in line at the pharmacy the gentleman behind me smiled. Seriously, I don’t go to the CVS to make friends but somehow yesterday I did.
This older fellow’s smile, along with his Vet’s hat, was engaging. He looked too young to have been in WWII so I asked him.
“Yes, I was in the Navy, this was my ship. (He pointed to his hat.) Spent a good deal of time in New Guinea and the South Pacific.” He was tall, tan and handsome. I thought he must have been just a kid back then.
“You look too young to have been in World War II.” He smiled again, chuckled a little, and said he wasn’t young enough to play golf anymore. A small silence ensued then I told him my father was in World War II, a Marine, fought in Okinawa and Guam. Mentioned that he was in Guadalcanal, too, though he didn’t fight there. A young boy’s expression of surprise and wonder covered his face. It was one of those heart stopping moments that hangs in the air, sweet and delicate, like honeysuckle.
“Maybe we were on the same beaches!”
“Yes, maybe you were.” He glanced momentarily away. Then his WWII blue eyes looked straight into my I’m-the-proud-daughter-of-a-WWII-Marine-Vet blue eyes. He looked away for the second time but his glance quickly returned and locked onto my face. “My brother didn’t make it back,” he sighed, “he was killed in Europe.”
Now I felt like crying. “I’m sorry for you,” I said “and for your poor mother and father.” That’s when he said in a voice ever so low, “That was a long time ago.”
I responded, “Well, yes, but thank you for all that you did for our country.” Now I think he was ready to cry. I gently touched his arm – sometimes encounters of importance go this fast on life’s spiritual highway. He looked at me then, shook his head up and down and said, “It was an important time.”
“Yes it was,” I responded with reverence in my voice. “Semper Fi, Sir.”
“Anchors Aweigh, sweet lady.”
Mary Jane Hurley Brant, M.S., CGP, has worked for 30 years as a Human Relations Counselor with a concentration in Jungian studies and depth psychology. She is a Certified Group Psychotherapist and Leader of Simple Abundance Seminars and Workshops and has worked with hundreds of individuals, couples and groups to bring a deeper understanding and meaning into their lives.
Mary Jane is the author of the books “When Every Day Matters: A Mother’s Memoir on Love, Loss and Life” and “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy.”
Her web site is http://www.MJHB.net
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.