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[twilight33]

What do you say to a mom whose little boy grew up in the same child care and Sunday school rooms yours is now, only hers was gunned down in Iraq at the age of 21? Kieran politely asked her for one of the brownies on the table near her today, she smiled and said of course. He needed a little prompting to say thank you through the mouthful of chocolate. I'm contributing to one of the 4 memorial scholarships that have been set up in her son's name.

My family has a long legacy of military service, including creative weaseling by my father: he was drafted for Vietnam, but avoided that by enlisting in the Army Reserves & getting assigned to Korea for telecom work instead. Without that evasion, who knows if I'd be around. Armed Forces Day is always near my birthday, and for years I thought everyone on his base wore their dress uniforms and let me sit in a helicopter to celebrate it.

If I can help it, the military will remain a total mystery to Kieran.

Comments

[tagsmum.livejournal.com]

Armistice Day in Britain is 11th November which is my birthday. Like you, I used to think we were allowed to wear our brownie/guide/scout/etc., uniforms in some sort of celebration of it, till I learned.

There is nothing you can say to the lady.I suppose Kieran's reply was the only one which defused the situation.

There is always so much made of "joining up" which is all well and good when there are no wars going on, it's a fairly good life (I know a couple of people who have had a wonderful career from the Forces) but it is dreadful when they are sent to the front. One of my son's classmates joined the Royal Navy and his mum was so chuffed at the expensive car he was able to buy and the holidays to Dubai he was able to arrange for his family, etc. I then met her just at the start of the War in Afghanistan and she was ever so worried about David and what would happen if his ship had to become involved in any activities.

Having been born after the World Wars, I have no experience personally of military service other than mentioned aboveand that my dad was an Engineer but saw no active service. He taught people to drive tanks.

I have always told my son that I would willingly visit him in jail rather than have to see him conscripted and sent to fight a fruitless war, and the ones we are fighting now seem less than justified.

[sunneyone.livejournal.com]

i hope you can make that happen.

that's a cute picture in my head of you thinking all those uniforms and such were for you. :)
i don't know what you'd say to that mother. :(