I remember clearly that early February morning in 1972. I was an 8-year-old; my family and I were gathered together in the kitchen getting ready for school and work and … listening intently to the radio. News of the military draft lottery was being broadcast.
At the time, the draft lottery was conducted by the Selective Service System to determine the order of call to military service in the Vietnam War. My brother Frank and his buddies were eligible. I remember the unmistakable look of angst upon my mother’s face as the results of the lottery were being broadcast.
Naturally, my mother, like any mother, did not want to see her children drafted for war. However, only years later did the depth of my mother’s angst dawn upon me: my great-uncle, her uncle Francis, a Prisoner-of-War, was killed in the Pacific as the ship accompanying him to Japan was torpedoed.
Harry McGonigle, the energetic, handsome, young man who accompanied Mom to her Senior Prom was killed only two years later in Korea in 1950.
For Mom and countless other civilians, war was not something “over there” and on the news. No, it was something very personal that struck home and heart deeply.
As our nation celebrates Memorial Day this weekend, we rightly remember and honor those who have given “the last full measure of devotion.” They are not to be forgotten. However, let us remember, too, the other casualties of war — the so-called “gold star” loved ones: the mothers and fathers and spouses and children and sisters and brothers and fiancés and sweethearts and buddies who lost their loved ones to combat. The emotional wounds of war run deeply in them for years afterward. They have never forgotten.
On Memorial Day, let us recall that the casualties of war are not only the combatants; they are, too, the millions of civilians who have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods, and even their very health and life to war and conflict. I believe that we owe them some debt of gratitude. As we rightfully honor our fallen combat heroes, let us say a prayer, too, and remember at Mass and in the civil ceremonies, the other victims of war. I think that our fallen heroes whom we remember this weekend would appreciate that.
Father Matthew R. Weber is pastor of Holy Cross Parish, Bridgeton.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
