Today I was watching a Story Corps animation short in honor of Veteran’s Day. It was about a man named Joseph Robertson who was a WWII veteran that served in the Battle of the Bulge, where over 40,000 lives were lost. Allied, German, and civilian. He spoke of a German soldier that he had to kill in self defense and how that memory haunted him for the rest of his life. Mr. Robertson lived until the ripe old age of 90, yet he would still awake in the middle of the night crying over the young German. He sacrificed his inner peace. I can’t imagine such a sacrifice.
http://storycorps.org/animation/germans-in-the-woods/
There are reasons I could never be a soldier. Number one being the fact that I couldn’t take the life of another. Even in self defense, as in Mr. Robertson’s case. Not because of religious convictions, and I sure don’t presume to have a higher moral standard than anyone else. I just don’t possess the strength.
I honor and admire those who fight for our country. I hope that Mr. Robertson finally rests in everlasting peace. I trust he was greeted in heaven by the lives he both saved and touched.
