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Writer's Block: In Memoriam
May. 25th, 2009 11:28 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
I could list many, uncles and cousins and even friends who didn't come back from where they were sent. Many more who did come back, including both my grandfathers, several uncles and aunts, and my parents. But I'm particularly thinking of my mother. She is a Vietnam and Cold War veteran, and she is suffering today from a disease that appears to hit American veterans at a rate higher than among American civilians. It's only in the last year that the United States government has addressed this specifically.
Amytrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. They still don't know what causes it, they don't know how to predict it, and they don't have anything approaching a cure or even a reliable treatment that improves quality of life.
My mother served for about five years in the United States Navy, in communications and intelligence. She worked at the Pentagon for awhile before working at a base in Rota, Spain, where she met my dad. She got out of the Navy at a higher rank than my dad did, and received an honorable discharge. She is the daughter of WWII veteran, and sister of two more Vietnam veterans (my aunt and uncle, who were both Marines).
I know Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who died while serving, and the idea of Veterans' Day is to honor all veterans, but there you have it.
I could list many, uncles and cousins and even friends who didn't come back from where they were sent. Many more who did come back, including both my grandfathers, several uncles and aunts, and my parents. But I'm particularly thinking of my mother. She is a Vietnam and Cold War veteran, and she is suffering today from a disease that appears to hit American veterans at a rate higher than among American civilians. It's only in the last year that the United States government has addressed this specifically.
Amytrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. They still don't know what causes it, they don't know how to predict it, and they don't have anything approaching a cure or even a reliable treatment that improves quality of life.
My mother served for about five years in the United States Navy, in communications and intelligence. She worked at the Pentagon for awhile before working at a base in Rota, Spain, where she met my dad. She got out of the Navy at a higher rank than my dad did, and received an honorable discharge. She is the daughter of WWII veteran, and sister of two more Vietnam veterans (my aunt and uncle, who were both Marines).
I know Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who died while serving, and the idea of Veterans' Day is to honor all veterans, but there you have it.
