Updates & Developments
Newsletter images and copy can go here… some sample text from the Veterans Day Reflection for layout purposes. We can change the column layout, etc.
The Greek philosopher Plato wrote that “only the dead have seen the end of war.” It was a warning that this most primitive of human conditions would bedevil mankind as long as human communities existed. And his words have turned out to be prophetic.
At its essence, war demands both sacrifice and service. The initial sacrifice is always made by warriors and their families. But service is also the responsibility of the warrior.
Warriors serve to protect our way of life and are willing to sacrifice all that they are or ever will be, to protect us. They make peace with dying because it is part of their commitment to serve something larger than themselves. Upon their return, however, it is the role of society to serve the warrior. The service we can, and must provide, is to help them fully return home. The failure to do so has devastating consequences. The veteran suicide rate of over 20 a day makes this conclusion inescapable.
Society also loses, as these gifted men and women will not be assuming the community and family leadership roles where they are so desperately needed. Few are braver or more ‘other-centered’ than men and women who have served in the military and we suffer as a culture without these values in our midst.
The most sacred bond a warrior has is with his or her comrades. The bond is simple. As one Marine said to me, “For a warrior…NO one EVER gets left behind. If someone’s lost, we go find them. If they are wounded, we go get them and if they’re killed… we bring them back home with us’. We don’t relate to all of this ‘I or me’. We think us. A warrior alone is in trouble…as are all human beings. We seem to forget that a lot these days.”
Another Headline Block
One column layout to contrast the two column layout above.
“When I got home, I didn’t know what to say to anyone. I had no friends and certainly had no idea how civilians get anything done,” Lishamarie tells us. “Everyone seemed to be more concerned with coffee, donuts and being nice than getting something done. In the Army, the donuts come last, if at all.”
“I tried teaching in an elementary school, but they said I was too strict. Basically, the principal made me feel that everything I’d done for my country was useless here. I was just trying to keep the kids from getting into trouble … especially the girls. I know all about how that happens. Men who are supposed to be good guys can turn on you.” For Lishamarie, most of her anxiety and vigilance is due to men in the military. “If something bad happens, there’s no one to tell, so my ‘go to’ had become a baseball bat …