Wednesday's Wisdom....

Had a "wow" moment the other night, when we caught the last few minutes of an interview with a retired Marine on a
60 Minutes segment, entitled "Gold Star Parents."  Marine Major General Myatt, president and CEO of the Marine Memorial Association was recalling his early experience during the Vietnam War:

Mike Myatt: People asked me, "What do you say to the Gold Star Parents?" I say, "Well, you don't have to say anything to 'em, just ask 'em, 'Tell me about your son or your daughter'." Man, they'll just talk. They'll just tell you all they can about the son or daughter. And it's really something. I wished I'd have known this as a young officer 'cause I went to Vietnam and I had people killed out of my platoon. And I was going to go visit each family and the very last one was in Kansas. I was visiting them and I went to the house, and the father said, "Come on in." And the mother, she had on her apron. She said, "I just fixed dinner, would you have dinner with us?" I said, "No, I'm in a hurry, but I want to tell you about your son." And I told 'em how he was killed and everything. They really appreciated. Then, "Won't you stay for dinner?" "Oh, I better not." I realize now they wanted to tell me about their son. And I wasn't mature enough to know it.

"And I wasn't mature enough to know it."

That statement was the wow for me.  

Looking back, choices or decisions I have made, or behaviors I had, weren't from a place of meanness or lack of caring for others.  Oftentimes, it was, as General Myatt said, a lack of maturity.

The other important message that segment provided, I believe, was the fact that sharing with others who currently are, or have gone through, the same experience, is where one can find the strongest support.  Only another Gold Star parent truly understands the experience of losing a child in war and all that experience brings.  As with survivors of cancer, divorce, hurricanes, or war, only those who have walked the same path can truly know how another survivor feels.  And there is great comfort to be found in knowing you are not alone.

The segment is still posted on the 60 Minutes website.  It is worth watching.  Here is the link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-parents-of-fallen-heroes-unite-scott-pelley/