IN SEARCH OF A BROTHER

In 1994 my wife and I took a trip to England to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.   While we were having lunch at the Tower of London, I met a World War II veteran who had just come from a tour of the beaches of Normandy in France. He was one of nearly 160,000 Allied soldiers who fought the Germans on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.  France had invited the veterans of that invasion to come to France on the 50th anniversary of D-Day in order to honor them.

 

While he was touring the former battlefields, he told how his brother was also part of the invasion force, but his brother had been killed.  He had come to France in the hopes that he could find his brother’s grave.  A soldier standing nearby heard what he said and asked what the brother’s name was.  This soldier had served with the man’s brother in 1944, saw him killed, and even carried him away.  He took the man to the grave, where he was finally able to weep and grieve. He left with his heart at peace.

 

It is our duty every day, but especially on Memorial Day, that we honor those who have served our country.