"Thanks for a Solemn Duty"

By Eleanor J. Perry, East Hartford, CT

Originally published in the Hartford Courant, June, 2003
(Submitted by Oz Ostapeck, who read this letter at the Philadelphia reunion, 2003)

June, 2005

Thanks For A Solemn Duty

One by one, I have lost several family members who served out country in World War II.

As families gather at the gravesite to bury loved ones, they are lost in their grief. Uniformed men stand proudly waiting in the heat of the sun, the cold winter, the rain or snow for the casket to arrive at the cemetery so that they may perform a voluntary "duty." They stand at attention, play taps on bugles, give the gun salute and perfectly and proudly fold the flag to be presented to the family.

This goes on many times daily in our nation. Many of these men are near to the end of life themselves and yet they are ready to perform their duty again the next day.

A sincere thank you is due from me and others who are in an emotional state and at that time, don't think about thanking these wonderful men who are still giving of themselves.

Eleanor J. Perry

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