Marshall Tempest
Key Points
I sometimes tell people that the atomic bomb saved my life. And I’m only half joking.
In 1945, my 18-year-old maternal grandfather was stationed on Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan, about 400 miles southwest of the mainland.
Even though the island was not fully cleared of enemy combatants (he used to tell stories about gunshots randomly coming out of the trees), he was there as part of the buildup for a potential ground invasion of Japan.
In a span of three days in August 1945, atomic bombs devastated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered days later, mercifully ending the war and rendering a ground invasion unnecessary.
My grandfather would go on to get married, have six children, 15 grandchildren, and live another 68 years.
My paternal grandfather also served in World War II before later starting a family and living to the age of 80.
Each Veterans Day, I remember them and their service. They fought for their country and were willing to die for it and future generations they would never meet.
They could have easily been among the more than 400,000 U.S. soldiers who died in World War II. If they had been, I would not be writing these words.
We owe more than a debt of gratitude to those who died so we could live. We owe them a life of service dedicated to making our homes, families, communities and country a better place for those who will come after us.
In “The Fellowship of the Ring,” part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic “Lord of the Rings,” stouthearted protagonist Frodo Baggins makes a statement we can all relate to: “I wish it need not have happened in my time.”
We could say this about any number of things, from personal difficulties, to wars, to the divisive times in which we live. But, in his response to Frodo, the wise Gandolf the Grey well summarizes the decision we all have before us: “So do I, and so do all who live in such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
As Veterans Day approaches next week, I hope you will go out of your way to sincerely thank the veterans in your life. I would also suggest we give thought to how we can show appreciation to those who are no longer here to thank.
What will we do with the time that is given to us?