Return

In my second article it covered the return of a soldier who had been killed in action. Needless to say it evoked the usual emotions and called for patriotism among even the biggest communists among us. The boy was young, nineteen, the same age as me. He wanted his combat wings and got them. He was killed by a cowardly enemy who hides and buries their weapons in the side of the road. The article was well written and did everything extremely tasteful. I was pleased with it, especially because the reporter was with the French foreign Associated Press. They aren’t always known for their favoritism of the American Imperialist. The family was crying, there were plenty of tears from onlookers, but they were not directly affected by the death. They wouldn’t be burdened by the loss of their loved one. In many cases like these the funeral is huge, and this was no acceptation. People flocked for miles to pay their respects to the young man who had lost his life in such a horrible way. I realized the feeling of obligation when you go. You feel like you have to go, in order to pay some debt to the poor man. After the funeral the family was interviewed and they really didn’t want the big funeral, they just wanted to deal with the issue privately.

             This story demonstrates the impact on a community that the death of a soldier has. Imagine walking around at seven knowing that there is a possibility that your father or mother isn’t coming home.