My good friend Al passed away last night. I am so glad he has gone to be with his beloved Maxine, whom he has missed so deeply. Today is also the memorial service for another good friend, John, who passed away in February. Both of these men were members of my father's generation of World War II veterans. Al was a U.S. Marine and John was a navy vet like my dad. My dad was a Pearl Harbor survivor, lived through the depression and made me one of the first of the baby boomers. When my mother and father celebrated their fiftiest wedding aniversary in 1992, I wrote this poem to share with my family. At my father's funeral in 1994 I read it again as my tribute to my dad. Many years later, my dear friend Barb's father died. He was a member of the 101st airborne who fought at the Battle of the Bulge. I was moved to share this poem at his memorial as it expresses for me the true grace and humanity of these men who came to our country's call and then went back to their quiet lives. Lives of consequence. This is for all of those who were members of that Greatest Generation.
Dad
"We choose to say good-bye against our will ... " Departing Words to a Son by Robert Pack
Sitting snoring in his chair
is just an every day affair
an ordinary scene of normalcy
no picture of greatness there
just the quiet thunder
the nodding of his head
the rise and fall of consciousness
the rest of ordinary men
No picture of greatness there?
History is carved into that face
carved into every line
a map of Twentieth Century history
made by men such as he
called not by ambition's driven voice
often not by any choice
but by uncaring circumstance
II
The words I learned in History
were the days that he lived
the sod house (where he was born)
Depression (postponing a scholar's quest)
CCC
December 7, 1941
(3 days from discharge, marriage, a job, a life)
the War in the Pacific
VJ Day
Baby boom
Cold War
Computer Age
Recession
Mid-life Career Change
lived in quiet courage
courage born of Doing
Doing what must be done
III
Ordinary men live the great moments of history
then leave the stage to those called great
to protect their ordinary lives
to live day to day
hour to hour
to sleep in quiet anonymity
heads nodding in their chair
just the quiet thunder
reminding us they're here.
Copyright 1992 by Martin Craig Jones
Dad
"We choose to say good-bye against our will ... " Departing Words to a Son by Robert Pack
Sitting snoring in his chair
is just an every day affair
an ordinary scene of normalcy
no picture of greatness there
just the quiet thunder
the nodding of his head
the rise and fall of consciousness
the rest of ordinary men
No picture of greatness there?
History is carved into that face
carved into every line
a map of Twentieth Century history
made by men such as he
called not by ambition's driven voice
often not by any choice
but by uncaring circumstance
II
The words I learned in History
were the days that he lived
the sod house (where he was born)
Depression (postponing a scholar's quest)
CCC
December 7, 1941
(3 days from discharge, marriage, a job, a life)
the War in the Pacific
VJ Day
Baby boom
Cold War
Computer Age
Recession
Mid-life Career Change
lived in quiet courage
courage born of Doing
Doing what must be done
III
Ordinary men live the great moments of history
then leave the stage to those called great
to protect their ordinary lives
to live day to day
hour to hour
to sleep in quiet anonymity
heads nodding in their chair
just the quiet thunder
reminding us they're here.
Copyright 1992 by Martin Craig Jones
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