Very sad. I expect some such will be my fate.
Very sad. I expect some such will be my fate.
Whilst we think of the service personnel who fought in the Great War, 100 years ago, let us also remember those left behind in this most bloody of wars but also more modern conflicts.
The Colonel whose job it was to organize the proceedings for the return of deceased military personnel at a UK air force base was asked if he was ever affected by the great sadness of it all. He said that he had to take it all in his stride, it was his job and it was part of his training, that training meant that he had to set an example forall those taking part, the bandsmen, the coffin bearers, the townspeople and everyone else involved including some very high ranking officers. More than anyone however, it was to show respect to the bereaved family,
That stiff upper lip lasted until the 105th former soldier came home. The organizing officer made an exception for this man and broke down, not for the loss of a soldier but the loss of a father.
The soldier had been killed in battle and his body was to be returned from Afghanistan, tragically, the soldier had four small daughters. A few days before the plane was due the Colonel went to see the family in order to make sure that they were aware as to what was going to happen, where they would be standing and what would be expected of them. A car would be sent for them, and the girls were all to wear their best clothes, the youngest was three years old, the next just 5, the other two were 8 and 9.
Mum had said to her children. ‘be brave, be strong, do this for your father’.
They arrived at the airfield as the plane was on approach, the band had started playing, quite quietly, rows of officers stood waiting and all at attention.
Mum and the girls lined up as the plane taxied towards them and came to a halt. The soldiers all saluted, all maintaining their composure. As the coffin was lowered to the ground, there was now silence, that was until the little 5 year old girl dropped to the floor and said 'Daddy'.
Everyone on that airfield broke down in tears.
Last edited by Bzzer; November 25th, 2018 at 11:08 AM.
Yesterday, two of the war-story writers met at my house and we swapped lies over coffee and pie. These two use their computers to do their writing, praising how much faster it is and their ability to move whole paragraphs at a time. I asked them if they could remember ever cutting and pasting a whole paragraph. They couldn't.
I showed them a couple of stories that are in my pipeline, written in longhand. They were aghast at how labor intensive that method is. I told them it would be indeed labor intensive if I used a ballpoint pen or pencil. A fountain pen takes most of the labor out of the project. It slows me down and I think I write differently that way -- changes my idiolect. They were not convinced.
Anyway, one of the guys finished his Army stories and has started notating the rest of his life. Their motivation for writing is to let their children know how their parents survived without smart phones, TV, and cars without automatic transmissions.
"Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little." -Epicurus-
calamus (December 27th, 2018)
Writing with a pen is slower and I find it leads to a more pensive experience.
NibsForScript (December 20th, 2018)
The topic is interesting, I learned a lot.
vdiantonio (March 1st, 2023)
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