Many veterans of WWII are respected for their efforts,
including my father Dale (1922-2007)who served in WWII.
Some shared with their families of origin and their own
spouse and children the realities of what they lived through
during those times.
More books and stories are told
today, such as Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation.
Many lost their lives however, as did those on the other side
fighting for their ideals or more likely forced into service or
direct killing. We could take time to consider what options does any
soldier really have if working under force?
Recently, I happened to see part of
a movie (with Tom Cruise) about an attempt on Hitler’s life which was
thought to be complete. A plan to take over was in place by some, which
when learned of after the failed attempt to end Hitler’s life, carried strong
consequences. I’m not a history expert, but I think the movie was true and
gave me a moment of gratitude to realize what many entrapped in the army and
society under Hitler were experiencing.
Many other veterans however were not
at ease to review their experiences and maybe felt ‘what difference would it make
to think about the past? What’s done is done and
analyzing things would be a challenge.
Remembering the horrors of war, whether on land, in the air or on the sea would
not likely be therapeutic but more difficult to recover and resume a normal life likely was
a common assessment.
Besides, who was there to really coach or assist any veterans to
put experiences in the context of reflecting our societal roles and pressure to
conform, first to serve, then to forget and heal in privacy.
After seeing It’s a Wonderful Life recently, the idea to
‘imagine how different the world would be if we
were not born into our family, into our towns,
state or country’. Some represent their family
and area on larger scales, but every life
is precious. The moment George Bailey thinks
of jumping off a bridge to get insurance money turns
into a rescue mission to save him by Clarence Odbody
(an angel in disguise working on earning his wings
with a mission to prevent George’s despairing final exit.)
Again, the old story could speak to many when facing
the ‘unthinkable’ whether huge debt, loss of friends or family
to injury or other forms of separation or even death. We have
more work to do (such as described in a simple book
Living Into Dying–at the FV Library and I have a copy we
could meet up and review, which describes the potential value
of having a 3-day vigil after someone dies (and even before,
called threshold work in the Rudolf Steiner
While we have not found more public ways to consider things
such as past lives, patterns for reincarnation or many alternative
healing, healthy eating, civil and spiritual types of responses to
our various human needs and relationships, by default the public
arena makes more of our lives regulated and ready to trigger
a law-breaking offense. We are losing our freedoms at a high
rate of speed, so when we need to convene in a serious
caring manner, we are being kept evermore stressed and driven apart.
Thanks for letting me post here n FB on the Northwest CT group (now at its limit
but such small forums are great bulletin boards and ways to keep a flow
of info in a wider section of the comumunity)and I’ll repost on my livfully blog…
but the inspiration started here with Remembrance of the bombing of Pearl Harbor
by Japan on Dec. 7th which led the US to join the
Allies in WWII to fight Hitler and his takeover of Europe.
My newest bumper sticker reads “Silence Does Not Mean Consent” f
rom www.voicesofmen.com
(against violence toward women and others). All of these threads of causes
and ways to assess and curtail or stop harm and killing are intertwined,
so collective actions add up to heal all aspects of our world, from the past
to the present and into the future. See more on www.gaia.org for positive change
on all levels from the personal to the social and state-based and beyond.
