Yesterday

By: Peggy Crowley Clutz

We had new internet installed yesterday and got to talking with the technician once he came inside. Nice guy - maybe 40 - but when he went downstairs and saw the burial flag in front of my father’s urn he became quite moved. We found out he had done four tours in Afghanistan and, while he didn’t go into details, sustained multiple injuries requiring hospitalizations and years of recovery. I also showed him a duffle bag that I picked up at a garage sale for a mere $15. It is the bag of a Brigadier General who fought in WWII and the Korean Conflict. I picked it up because my father was in both wars and I wondered if they had somehow been in the same place at the same time — you never know, and I will never know but it was a thought. Well, this Marine stood in front of that bag in awe and reverence to the point that both Bill and I had tears in our eyes. He continued to say that THEY were the heroes, the ones who sacrificed the most, all with such emotion that we thought he was going to break down as well. I told him HE was the hero and asked him to tell us his story, but he never did.

I am so thankful that he saw the flag and we got to know this young man a little better. You never know where the heroes are — maybe standing right in front of you.