-->
Many years ago, there was a guy from high school named Joe
Neal. Joe was a sweetheart of a guy, smart, friendly and always said; ‘Hello’
when he saw you. Joe was everyone’s friend. You never heard anything ugly from
his mouth and he set a great example for other of us to follow. He was class.
Joe studied hard, was smart or and should I say an athlete and intelligent as well.
We all graduated from high school and one day with the war
in Vietnam going on, we got some terrible news: Joe was dead! He had joined the
army to do his duty as a soldier, and as the story goes, fell on a hand grenade
saving his fellow soldiers and died, just like in a movie, or so it seemed. He,
like too many others perished in the Vietnam War. The old men on both sides of
the conflict decided to use human beings, young ones, the ones who did have
a chance at old age like they did to settle their arguments in an armed conflict, while they
stayed home in comfort and debated making decisions that would impact others.
So the world lost a wonderful human being, one who held
promise of spreading some good by being alive. Who knows where Joe may have
gone, maybe to a high elected office, maybe a law firm or even better, be a
resident of a teaching university that found the cure for cancer.
A group of classmates went to the Vietnam Memorial on the
recent class trip to Washington D.C. and took the time to find Joe’s name on
the wall where the thousands of names are etched for eternity. They found his
name and they called it out, in their hearts and souls. Joe was remembered
after 50 years. He was taken from this world for senseless slaughter, for an
unappreciative nation that thought it was the right thing to send young men
into combat and end their lives before they began.
But my classmates looked for his name out of respect, love and
appreciation for what he was, a good guy. A 19-year old made a bunch of senior
citizens pause and remember. They had similarly remembered him at our 45th
high school reunion’s memorial to all our past classmates.
Thank you Joe, for who you were and what wonderful memories
you left us, and that you taught us all that being decent didn’t hurt, has a
positive impact on people and builds respect out of honor, and joy out of
being.
3 comments:
Well said, Delbloggolo. R.I.P. Joe, and thank you for fighting for us.
-#1 Son
Thank you for dedicating your blog to Joe Neal.
Joe and I were pretty close our last year at BHS. He was on Student Council with me, and we were both very actively involved in a number of other school activities. When I was awarded the Service Award for our graduating class, I honestly felt it should have gone to him, and told him so. He disagreed, and was genuinely happy for me. It was just the kind of guy he was. Humble, loyal, an all around good guy.
I wrote to his mom after I learned of his death. I still have her response. I think of him often, and I, too, have a photo of his name on that wall.
Too many Joe Neals never came home from too many wars. Maybe one day men will learn to settle their differences without killing. Nice remembrance, Joe.
Post a Comment