Journey: Walking each other home

Photo and text from NPR:

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, Calif. [am's note:  Nicole is one of the thirteen Americans who died on August 28]

This undated photo provided by U.S. Department of Defense Twitter page posted on Aug. 20 shows Sgt. Nicole Gee holding a baby at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Officials said Saturday that Gee was killed in Thursday's bombing.

U.S. Department of Defense/AP
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Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An’ for each an’ ev’ry underdog soldier in the night

...

Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an’ forsaked

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Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey by GB Tran comes to mind this morning.  The sorrow of war repeating itself at the end of August 2021.  The chimes of freedom flashing and tolling.

UNTITLED / FROM A DREAM DURING WARTIME (EARLY 1970s)

This morning while reading The Sandbox, I found
this and this on a blog from Afghanistan written by a man with 100 days left before his return to the United States .

May all soldiers return home safely. May I continue to listen to soldiers and their families who speak from all points of view.

In STRENGTH TO LOVE, a collection of sermons by Martin Luther King, Jr., the first sermon is titled "A tough mind and a tender heart." In this sermon he says, "We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart."

A tough mind and a tender heart is what I am looking for in our next president. Whom, I wonder, would Martin Luther King, Jr., who took a clear and courageous stand against the war in Vietnam, vote for in 2008?

I don't presume to have the answer.

(Untitled drawing in India ink by Old Girl Of The North Country)