44.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Holiday gift: a bit of time and love
He could be your son or mine . . . Perhaps you saw the photo of 24-year-old Bowe Bergdahl of Idaho posted on the Internet last week. Bergdahl, an American soldier, was taken prisoner by the Taliban in Afghanistan 18 months ago.
There he remains, isolated and vulnerable, his life hanging by a thread that can be cut by his captors at any time. He’s a young man paying a big price for his service to our country.
The haunting image of Bergdahl brings to mind all the soldiers who serve in the military in the far corners of the world. What they all have in common is being away — away from home, especially now during the holidays, when the heart pulls us toward family and friends.
Some things don’t change. For as long as I can remember, there have been soldiers fighting wars overseas, and it has always been that their service seems especially selfless during the holidays.
Growing up, I watched Bob Hope and his troupe of entertainers move their road show, from the bases of World War II to bases in Vietnam. The photos of those guys in the front row — the ones in wheelchairs — always grabbed the heart. As the cameras scanned the audiences, the smiling and laughing faces of the boys — and they were boys — struck a poignant counterpoint to the deadly serious business taking place on battlefields nearby.
Today we have troops moving out of Iraq, but we have nearly 100,000 serving in Afghanistan. The facts of the war are troubling, a positive outcome is doubtful, the corruption of the Afghan government confounds the problems, yet we press on.
Every week, bombs explode, soldiers get caught in firefights and young men and women die. They are called to serve and they do, in a gesture that goes beyond politics and the particulars of this or any war.
We can all do something to honor the service of our young people. We can write letters or e-mails to soldiers or make donations to support the troops overseas and their families at home. Especially now, in this season, and as we turn toward a New Year, we want them to know that we appreciate their sacrifice.
