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For Memorial Day this year, a few of us from the Friday evening Peace Vigil Bristol group marched with the Veterans for Peace at the Vergennes Parade. It was an honor.
Earlier, in Bristol, a neighbor told me she hoped the rain would hold off. I responded, “It will be what it will be. I will not melt.”  Later on, I reflected on the expression, “to be rained upon.” Bullets were not raining down on us. Bombs were not raining on us. Nuclear fallout was not raining on us.
Memorial Day is one of reflection for me. I reflect upon my father, a veteran of World War II. He had to bail out of his plane twice. He experienced being in the belly of that aircraft, with flak coming at him. He lived to tell some stories. He lived to be the father of 3 children. He also suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome, before it ever was labeled such a thing. When my brother was being drafted into the Vietnam War, my Republican father broke the rules. My father’s response was, “Let them take me. I know what war is. Do not do that to my son.”
I honor all victims of war, living and dead, every day in my daily prayers. I open my heart to “cities and countries at war and in conflict; to all those who have lost their homes, their loved ones, their friends, their families, their limbs, their skin, their livelihoods, their dignity, their virginity, their safety, and their security.” My heart aches.
Honor the dead. Heal the wounded. End the wars.
Patricia Heather-Lea
Bristol