I don't watch a lot of television. Not unless it's baseball season, then I usually have a game on, but otherwise I don't have a lot of patience for it. Since I've been sick/recovering from being sick this last week, I've seen a little more than usual and I noticed that CBS Evening News profiles a soldier each night, someone who died in Iraq.
I needed to think about this for a while, but I decided it's a really good thing. It puts a human face on the war, makes people remember that it isn't just numbers. These are real men and women dying. Some of them are just kids.
How many of us remember to look beyond the statistics? I'm as guilty as anyone else. My life has gotten so damn busy. This was a good reminder. These are real people, people with families who love them--spouses, children, parents, siblings. The soldier they profiled last night was 19 when he died. 19.
They also did a follow-up on another soldier they'd profiled. This one had an 11-year-old son and had been working with him to restore an old car. The news talked about all the volunteers that had shown up to help finish this car for the kid like the father wanted to do. I'm glad there are people out there with these generous spirits. This boy will never have his dad back, but at least he'll know that others cared that his father died for his country.
I flip around a lot when I watch TV. CNN, I think, interviewed someone who was part of a group selling bracelets with the names of the men and women who'd died in Iraq. Some of the money from the sale of these bracelets goes to the families. The website is: http://herobracelets.org. I haven't had a chance to check it out thoroughly, but I thought this would be something small I could do. I can't rebuild a car and I hardly have time to do anything beyond working and writing, but I can buy a bracelet and wear it. If anyone does take the time to check it out, drop me an email and let me know what you find out, okay?
