Today I interviewed one of the 29 World War II veterans going with us on Saturday's Honor Flight. He was one of those guys who got into the military a little too late to see any major action (he made the Navy in '45), well, at least directly, anyway.
In fact, for a while, I was beginning to wonder if I picked the wrong guy to interview (I didn't know this until the interview began). I went into it thinking this guy may have seen a little action, maybe even seeing some battle from a distance. Not this one.
But now, I'm seeing it differently. Nobody knew in '45 that the war was about to end, that Hitler was about to off himself in that bunker, that Little Boy and Fat Man were going to pay a Japanese visit, any of that. He certainly didn't. And yet he signed up anyway, just in case it might have gone on to '48 or something further.
It's my opinion now that "war heroes" should include those with enough wherewithal to sign up to fight for freedom, even if all they do is wait in the wings. Maybe they didn't take a bullet or fire a successful round at the enemy, but they were ready to go. So must we all be in any situation, rather than hoping (often against hope) that someone else will do it for us.
And with that, I'm looking forward to Saturday again.
Current noise: fIREHOSE, "Locked In"