Dear Friends who posted their stories about their parents on the Warrior Forum,
It is replies like yours that give me the strength to carry on and deal with my grief and loneliness. Your story about your dad brought tears to my eyes as I remember the Air Force honor guard folding the American flag on my dad’s coffin and presenting it to me with a salute and a statement of appreciation for both my mom and dad’s service during World War II.
As the soldier played taps on her bugle, my tears rained down on the flag that symbolizes all that is good in this country and the incredible sacrifices our parents made in World War II and the Korean War. I remember the difficult times and amazing sacrifices my generation made in Vietnam and Cambodia.
There are so many of our young heroes that fought in the Gulf War and are now giving their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq and trying to recover from grievous injures my heart aches for their sacrifice and that of their families.
Things seem so screwed up in the world today is makes me sick to my stomach. Now that my mom and dad are gone, it is time for us to make a positive difference in the world today, especially in the lives of our kids and grandkids who have come home to rebuild their lives.
I feel this is my new mission in life, to find more Heroes who are ready, willing and able to come to the aid of those who are suffering the loss of parents, kids and grandkids through war and disease and drug addiction. As my alter-ego hero Captain Biorhythm, who has supported, inspired and sustained me through the agony of the last four years, would say, “Rise up heroes and heroines, the world needs you now!”
take care,
ralph