Sunday, January 25, 2009

Notes that echo through the centuries

On the day before he became president, Barack Obama paid a visit to Arlington National Cemetery and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A bugler played "Taps" --- and my evening came to a standstill.

I thought about all the soldiers buried there....the wars they fought in....the sacrifices that they made......and the price we've paid for freedom.

I thought of my Dad, and that warm September day we laid him to rest more than two years ago now. A color guard from Fort Riley came to salute a World War II veteran who had fought on the front lines of France and Germany.

I was standing next to the coffin and never saw the 21-gun salute or the bugler playing "Taps"....but those sounds pierced my soul. They reflected that he had joined the generations of soldiers, sailors and aviators who had fought to create, preserve or protect our nation and now live on only in memory.

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