Everyday I try to think of those who wear the uniform and the sacrifices they make so that I can live my comfy life here in West Chester. And every memorial day, I think of my good friend Harry McGinness, a Vietnam veteran who is no longer on this earth. Harry was man of remarkable accomplishment (though you would never hear it from his mouth). He was tall, handsome and had that military charisma about him. He loved to tell stories (usually war stories) and laugh (usually at himself). I will never forget seeing Harry one Tuesday after Memorial Day. I asked him how his "holiday" was. He told me he went to see his buddy's in Washington, D.C. "How nice", I said. Then, like a waterfall his tears began to fall. He stood there sobbing, with no embarrassment, no caution. Just pure emotion. Real. Honest. Painful. He cried as if it were yesterday that he lost his friends in the war. He went on to tell me what each of them meant to him...and the time they saved his life. He touched their names on The Wall, and remembered. Harry changed my perspective on the meaning of this day. For that, I am forever thankful.
Here's to you Harry...and Dad, and every other veteran who has served our country and who serves now. THANK YOU.... a million times, thank you.
“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” ~unknown
