Reminds me a bit of my dad. Dad was in the Phillipines - Luzon. He was a alcoholic and very distant from my mom and us five kids. It wasn’t until he died that my aunt told me he was on a detail whose job it was to retrieve the bodies of fellow soldiers who had died in battle. Yes, I know this is part of war and the commitment to leave no fellow soldier behind. However, what the Japanese did to those bodies was despicable. He had a hard time with the memories of what he saw.
It made it a bit easier for me to forgive him. A year or two before he died, he wanted me to contact an old army buddy that he was hoping was still alive. I regret that I was too selfish and couldn’t be bothered. I know now that he needed to talk to someone else who had been through it. He was alone in his memories. I so very much wish I had looked up that buddy.
Poignant story. And a reminder that ALL of those who serve deserve our gratitude. Yes, the frontline soldier/sailor/marine may bear the terror of bullet and bomb, but many others sacrifice to make that horror a little more bearable, and to carry a share of the burden as well.
Thank you for your memory. Yes, we sometimes make mistakes.