Growing up in east central Pennsylvania with a dad who was a long-time high school history teacher, it should be no surprise that Gettysburg was a regular vacation spot for my family. In fact, visiting the battlefields and museums of Gettysburg became a kind of annual pilgrimage for us. Over the years, the bookshelves at my parent's home have become filled with books recounting the history of the Civil War. Perhaps the most compelling of those books are those which recount the stories told by the Soldiers themselves through the countless diaries and letters that have been preserved to tell the story of the War from the perspective of those who fought it.
In fact, the most compelling and important stories surrounding any war are the recollections of the men and women who fought it. In recent years, for example, one of the most popular television series of all-time, Band of Brothers, recounted the story of E Company of the Second Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division as it trained and fought in the Second World War. The series was based upon Stephen Ambrose' book of the same name and the book was based largely upon the writings and letters of the men of Easy Company as well as interviews of the surviving men of Easy.
Like Soldiers past, it is important for the men and women serving in the military today and particularly those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan to tell their stories so that future generations can understand these wars and those who have fought in them. For the most compelling and important stories that will be told about these wars will not be those imagined by Hollywood screenwriters who may have no real experience of the wars but rather by those who have served in uniform and who have served on the front lines. It is important that those in the military today share their experiences of war through their writing or art or whatever other medium they choose to express themselves. For it is through these first-hand accounts that the true story of war is told by the men and women tasked with fighting it.
In some effort to practice what I have preached, I would like to share one of my personal poems about one of my experiences. I encourage other men and women in uniform around the globe, whether they are or may become writers, poets, artists, screenwriters or just simply people with a story to tell, to tell those stories as they go through life so that others may understand the kinds of sacrifices they have made and the events and history they have witnessed.
At the Airport In Baltimore
An old man buys me a cup of coffee.
He reminds me of my grandfather,
Who will be waiting for me in Harrisburg.
He guessed I was in the service
By my short hair and quick walk.
He is headed to Connecticut
To spend Christmas with his daughter
Who has just made him a grandfather
For the third time.
She and her husband want him to come and live with them.
He'd like that.
He tells me his wife died a year ago
And he feels lonely.
In Connecticut, he'll spend every day with his grandchildren.
He used to teach high school,
Coach football on weekends.
His daughter has horses.
He remembers a brown pony he had as a boy in Texas.
He rode her to school, sometimes, when it was cold.
When he was nineteen,
The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
He joined the Marines
And island-hopped across the South Pacific.
He tells me he sometimes dreams of his wife,
And of stepping off into dark waters to fight
On sinister islands.
He has hardly touched his coffee.
I must interrupt him and board my plane.
It climbs into the twilight.
I think of my own grandfather,
As a young man like me,
Alone and quiet in a dark jungle,
On an island near Iwo Jima.
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