I'm somewhat of a history buff, and I enjoy roaming around the countryside when I can, finding interesting things and places. Yesterday, I paid a visit to the Quaker Cemetery in Camden, SC, a small and very historic town about 35 miles east of Columbia. I found a plot there, and I would like to share it with you all. I don't have any ideology behind it- you can look at this, as I did, as a pacifist. You can look at it, as I did, and be reminded of the sacrifice that people make. But I want everyone to stop and think for a moment what it must have been like for this family.
A Father and Mother-
William Roberts, born 1892 and died 1955, and Beulah Roberts, born 1896 and died 1979
Three Sons:
Private First Class Edman G. Roberts, born October 29, 1922. Killed in Action, Sicily, July 10, 1943.
Private First Class Gilbert E. Roberts, born August 24, 1920.
Killed in Action, Peleliu Island, September 29, 1944.
Private First Class Wilbert L. Roberts, born June 6, 1918.
Killed in Action, Sicily, October 1, 1944.
I did not realize until I had left that it was in fact Veteran's day. Each of the soldiers' graves had had a freshly planted bit of flowers and an American flag, and it was a beautiful clear autumn day. It was a very sad thing to see.
I am a pacifist. I do not support war. By and large, I do not even follow the line of "support the troops"- I certainly don't wish them harm, but I feel that they are often better trained and better equipped than their adversaries, and I feel sad for both sides. But I don't want to make a political statement here. What I thought about on the drive back was of the universality of suffering- and of how all my problems were very small, compared to a couple that had lost all three of their young sons to battle. I thought about how there have been hundreds of thousands of Americans who, for good reasons or ill, bravery or stupidity, wisdom or folly, have been willing to risk their lives at least nominally for their country.
Pacifist or not, rich or poor, veteran or non-combatant, I do not think that we think about these things enough. Today at the SC-Florida game, the band did its traditional veterans salute halftime show. There was the USC band, an army band, tanks, red white and blue streamers, flags of all the services and states, fireworks, balloons, and a perfectly timed flyover of F-16's. The crowd, like they do every year, loved it. There was much cheering and shouting and a loud singing of "God Bless America." I do not begrudge this celebration at all, though I am not of the temperament to share in it. But my thoughts were on those five graves in a small town, and I felt sadness and thankfulness at the tragedy of all of this and at the willingness of people to give up everything they had for something greater than themselves. Because that is the reality of victory in war- not a red, white, and blue victory parade, but a victory won at a terrible cost.