Courage

TonightI had a call from an old pal that i went through WW2 with. We didn't talk about the War . We talked about our health and the horrible situation in Iraq and how this miserable leadership has put our dear country in such an impossible situation. But he made me think about courage because my friend at the height of the battle of Cassino in the Italian campaign had a German shell explode about ten feet from the jeep he was driving and his Lieutenant and friend sitting besdide him in a jeep was hit right through the stomach and died in his arms about 30 minutes later. My friend was untouched thanks to the Jeep motor which deflected the blast. But two weeks later my friend was back in his ambulance on or near the front line doing his job. That is courage.

But now in our old age --85 years old - we need and hope to have courage again - a different kind - to fight old age and the deterioration of some of our faculties and not be discouraged by our own situation and the situation of our country for which we did our part back then.. My friend carries his oxygen tank with him and continues to lead a full life , interested in all his activities. He carries the scars of that war with him, but to see him and talk with him you'd never know abut the past. War, when you have really been in it, does damage all through your life which you have to cope with. Churchill said: Courage is the most important quality. It insures the rest, With it you can cope and go forward and do your job.