07 February 2011

They Sit Amongst Us...

I'm having lunch in my hospital's dining facility.  It's a typical scene.  People are hustling back and forth, tv's are blaring the latest Hollywood scandal, some are on cell phones, and a few clusters are enjoying their break from the hectic pace of today's medicinal world.

And there, at one of the tables, he sits.  If you didn't know, and few do, he's a Hero. I know this man.  He's an honest-to-goodness H-E-R-O.  He is a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

But, he sits quietly in anonymity.  It's how he likes it.

He smiles and his voice is light and full of levity.  Yet, if you look, you can see that his body tells a tale of a dark day long ago. Sixty years now, a lifetime for many.

And Life swirls around him...

Our Nation's heroes aren't always easy to spot. They're not always festooned with, deals, or on tv, or riding the back of a convertible with a young & pretty Miss Somethingorother riding beside.

They sit quietly among us, and we're blessed to have them here.  For without them having faced those dark days of theirs, in battles that most hope that we'll never see (and a few fear they will), we would not have our light and carefree times now, when a Hero can sit amongst us... his daughter helping his gnarled body... in quiet anonymity.