Veterans Day, 2006
Pushed ever so slowly, the hand of darkness ovetakes the light
until all that is left is a narrow sliver that crosses the marble
floor and runs half way up the wall.
Darkness soon extinguishes the light.
Silently and without pause the names stand guard in the night.
Every night.
Darkness does not extinguish their sacrifice, and all of us here
in the states are the beneficiaries of their valor.
For them I am grateful.
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans
and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the
name of totalitaranism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
Mohandas K. Gandhi
Today, as then, young men and women stand between us and the darkness.
Thank you for being there.
Images from the Civil War Memorial, Vicksburg, Mississippi