A christmas note to Charlie (Dragutin as we know him)
I was going to send you a private email but I think I would like to have this note address those ,like you,who have served our country as well.It is from my heart to yours though.
I am still reading your platoon's memoirs that you sent me.They are overwhelming.Normandy through Europe and then to the Pacific? Amazing!!
I was born in 1953.I wasn't there when you landed at Normandy.I wasn't there as you trudged through Europe,Battle of the Bulge,Eating God knows what when K-rations were "Haute Cuisine"compared to what you made "Do" with.Countless towns to fight your way through,losing close friends.Maybe even losing faith that there is a God.I wasn't there.Yet , in a way , I was there because you were defending me,even though you didn't know me or who I was to be.You protected me,my wife,my children,my relatives,my neighborhood,my hopes and dreams.
How can I ever thank you? How can I ever convey the gratitude I have to you? I have only known you for a few months yet I feel we are brothers.
There are those who have served who are probably on this board,who I may get to know about.There are those who I will never know.But that will never stop me from thanking each and every one I find who has served our country.
I was not there,but I would have been proud to have been there with you.I would have been proud to have been there with anyone who carried our flag with honor.
As we approach Christmas,please know that you (all) are in my heart and prayers.You are (all) a National Treasure.You have all been through Hell and seen things that many could not handle.Done things that most could not comprehend.All for the sake of defending and protecting.
The Christmas season reminds us that there is a war going on in the spiritual realm as well.It is just as "real" as WW2 was.We just can't see it.Take solice in the fact that you have fought for righteousness and have prevailed.Wars and conflicts will not stop,however.The human condition will not change.And that's where Christmas comes in.
Remember that Christmas celebrates the birth of a "saviour".A saviour who was born to die as a sacrifice (the perfect for the imperfect).It is Easter that completes the story.If Easter didn't happen,Christmas would not matter.But it did happen.The war is over.God is only withholding judgement until the last "genetic"combination is complete and the last "soul"enters the Ark before exercising control over the Title Deed of the Earth.Then it is complete.Satan took it at the fall of Adam.God took it back at the Cross and verified it with the resurrection.
Charlie,I hope to meet you.You are "on my list of things to do".Stay in the "Here and Now" and keep your Bocci skills "honed".Your friend , Seamous (AKA Kelt)
