MEMORIES of a veteran

By Robert Bauer MA JD

Veterans Day is a time when we, as a grateful nation, mutually remember our nation's heroes. We honor the selfless sacrifices they made in the name of honor and integrity. Veterans Day was initially established to recognize and honor the veterans of the First World War. But in 1954, it became a day to acknowledge every Veteran that has put on a uniform and sacrificed for this nation from the past to the future.

On the 11th day of the 11th month, we gather at our local parades, cemeteries, memorials, churches, and city parks with friends, families, and dignitaries. As we stand, the stillness of the air is abruptly shattered with the sound of 3 Volleys of gunfire denoting a twenty-one-gun salute. Then from what seems like a far distance, we hear the lowly sound of a lone trumpeter playing taps. We stand in reverence as we remember those that have served and have gone.

But somewhere in the corner of our community sits alone a veteran maybe in a nursing home, hospice care, long-term care facility, on the streets homeless or in a Veterans Hospital. They are no longer able to move about or attend these events that were created to honor them and their buddies. They sit quietly in their rooms or a shelter alone, almost forgotten. They, too, remember when they once stood proud prepared to die with honor for their country, but now they are old, feeble, broken, and forgotten. 

Many move a lot slower than they once did; they are hunched over in pain; many feel they are just a burden now. They are heartbroken as they, too, recognize their fallen friends and heroes. Their memories are all they have now, and they are always fresh and alive.

I am not sure if you remember the long-running Broadway play Cats, but there was a song that was stuck in my mind all this week. It was that song that led me to write this Veterans Day article. In the song “Memory,” there is this character that used to be known as a “Glamour Cat.” They were once a key player in the tribe. But now they find themselves looking in from the outside, remembering how it once was. They are old and feeble now. The character feels rejected and forgotten. 

Like the Old Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Airmen, or Coastie, everyone eventually leaves, and the memories return when they were younger and were a member of the tribe. When everyone leaves, she begins to remember her more youthful days and, in her mind, imitates those that left. But she too is alone and frail; she cannot capture the magic. She is left alone to contemplate her memories of the time when she apart of the tribe. She sings the verses in Memory and reaches out for anyone to touch her. She desperately wants to be remembered and accepted.

 (Words of song Memory, from the Broadway Play “Cats” )

Midnight

Not a sound from the pavement

Has the moon lost her memory

She is smiling alone

In the lamplight

The withered leaves collect at my feet

And the wind begins to moan

Memory

All alone in the moonlight

I can smile like the old days

I was beautiful, then I remember

The time I knew what happiness was

Let the memory live again

Every street lamp seems to beat

A fatalistic warning

Someone mutters and the street lamp gutters

And soon it will be morning

Daylight

I must wait for the sunrise

I must think for the new life

And I mustn't give in

When the dawn comes

Tonight will be a memory too

And the new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days

The stale cold smell of morning

A streetlamp dies

Another night is over

Another day is dawning

Touch me!

It's so easy to leave me

All alone with my memory

Of my days in the sun

If you touch me

You'll understand what happiness is

Making an Impact

My daughter Hannah recognized this dilemma when, as a memorial to her middle school teacher, Amber Luchianni (tragically died in a car accident in 2012) created an organization “Operation Amber Waves.” She and her cohorts gather at the Martinsburg West Virginia Veterans Affairs Hospital during the Christmas holidays and bring gifts and fellowship to those in the PTSD ward and the long-term care facilities.

As the song says in its closing stanza, “Touch me, it’s easy to leave me, all alone with my memory of my days in the sun if you touch me, You’ll know what happiness is.” Some are old, feeble, alone, and many homeless that could use your touch not just on Veterans Day but every day. I went with Hannah to the Martinsburg VA Hospital in 2018. I sat and talked with many of the Veterans that are living their final days out at this facility. They were excited to have someone sit with them and listen to their stories. I had the honor of meeting a 105-year-old WWII Veteran. Many of these Veterans, men, and women no longer have family living. They need someone to touch them, and I assure you that you will walk away with happiness. Can you find a place in your heart to make reaching out as part of your life's goals, so an old veteran doesn’t leave this world all alone?

I encourage you to look for opportunities in your community that “reach-in” to these men and women who once wrote a blank check that was payable in full to the United States government in the amount that includes the full payment of their life. Billy Ray Cyrus wrote a song that says, “All gave some, and Some gave all.”

?A Veterans Life is more than just one day, and for some, that final day comes all to fast.

Author: is a retired federal law enforcement officer, a former combat infantry sergeant, and a Brigade Operations Sergeant, College Professor, Writer/Author, Transformational Speaker, Founder/President of Warriors Heart USA, and the National Director to Stronger Alliance, a strong advocate for those trying to navigate through the traumatic minefield of life. Pwr2chg.net