In the United States, we remember our veterans today, those men and women who risked everything for our freedom. Most of us know them as family, as neighbors, as colleagues in the workplace. We've probably only rarely spoken with them about their service, because few veterans will share their experience. How can they, if there is no common ground?
Before I retired, I worked at a college in southern California. Because of its proximity to the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, many returning Marines enrolled in the college. I supervised the Veteran's Center and got to know them well. That experience remains a highlight of my lengthy higher education career. The manifest courage of these young men and women, both in the field and on campus, was extraordinary. Many returned with visible injuries, but all suffered the invisible PTSD.
Thank you to all who have served, to all who dared to dream of freedom. God Bless You All.
Below is my tribute poem, a response to a prompt by Colleen Chesebro. She asked that poets write a butterfly cinquain (2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2) and include a color, one perhaps, that readers could taste.
Before I retired, I worked at a college in southern California. Because of its proximity to the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, many returning Marines enrolled in the college. I supervised the Veteran's Center and got to know them well. That experience remains a highlight of my lengthy higher education career. The manifest courage of these young men and women, both in the field and on campus, was extraordinary. Many returned with visible injuries, but all suffered the invisible PTSD.
Thank you to all who have served, to all who dared to dream of freedom. God Bless You All.
Below is my tribute poem, a response to a prompt by Colleen Chesebro. She asked that poets write a butterfly cinquain (2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2) and include a color, one perhaps, that readers could taste.
I close with this brief and powerful Sound of Silence. Please join me in honoring our vets.
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