A tale gone untold

This is a letter to some military men that I have never met, but God open an opportunity for me to write to them.


Again, I am at a loss for words. Though, there are thoughts roaming my mind, it is often hard for me to put them into words, mostly because I am unable to write or type as quickly as my mind runs. So, while this may not come across as fluent as I might hope, I still want to share what my heart feels.

I am unknowledgeable in regards to the details of the military. The only picture I have representing the men and women serving our country is from media, books and those I have met with life accounts of war experience. The latter two are the most interesting to me.

Since I began reading novels of my own choice in high school, I have always gone to war stories. I have read classics such as “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O'brien and “A Rumor of War” by Philip Caputo among others. One of my favorites is “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier,” by Ishmael Beah.

I read these powerful stories because they touch a world that is untouchable to me. I could never imagine the experiences soldiers have encountered, and reading their words is my small window.

In addition to the printed stories, I have had the privilege to meet several veterans for articles I wrote as a reporter for a city newspaper. I met a man who witnessed the events of Pearl Harbor while working at a nearby farm in Hawaii before joining the military himself. Another man told me the story of the USS Indianapolis sinking as one of the last living survivors residing in Missouri. There aren’t enough affective adjectives to describe the sadness and fear written across his face as he told how at 17-years-old he watched each of his friends die that day.

While I acknowledge the stories I’ve come to know about a few soldiers, I dare not say I have been shown the whole picture. I couldn’t even say with these few stories there was much more than a glimpse as compared to the reality so many millions have embraced serving our country.

There are stories unwritten, untold and some buried with the life of a loved-one. It is this sacrifice I cannot fathom; the sacrifice to carry images, thoughts, and recounts of situations and events on a daily basis while putting this big word our “country” first.

This brings to remembrance a conversation I had with a friend. She told me that after her son had returned from the frontline in Iraq, they took a trip to New York City. Standing at ground zero, her and her son began to cry. She looked at him and he said he couldn’t tell her, he could never share this part of his life with her or anyone.

No matter the books or stories told, there will always remain hidden experiences of a soldier. Whether those experiences come from the intense training, a complete change of frame of mind in some cases, the battleground, or simply being knowledgeable to happenings no one else is aware of, there are tales going untold.

Of course, while this is true, it also is true that there is a God who understands, a God who can comfort, and a God who knows what it is to watch His Son die on the battleground for the greater good. What's more, God allows His Son to be our Savior on the battleground for us, whether we need physical, emotional or spiritual strength. He listens and He knows the untold tales of a soldier.

2 Corinthians Chapter 1
3)Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4)Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
5)For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
6)And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.