BLESSED ARE THE HEARTS OF THE ELDERLY WHO DIE ALONE

How sad and lonely it must be when you have reached the end of your life finding yourself totally alone and feeling no one cares for you.


Once I was in a Rest Home visiting my mother who was very ill and dying of cancer. My heart was full of misery and I could barely reason with life itself. As I left her room and began walking the long hallway out of the building, I could not help but to hear a woman crying in a room that I was passing. As she sobbed, she was repeating over and over, “No body loves me.” “No body cares for me.” “I’m all alone.”

I stopped and looked into the room. There she lay on the bed, tears streaming from her eyes, looking very fragile. Her hair was thin and grey and she appeared very old from her apparent illness and loneliness. I walked into her room and placed my hand on her arm; she looked up at me and a flood of tears poured from her eyes. She began repeating the things that had caught my attention and grasped my hand.

She asked, “Who are you?” “What do you want, now?” I said, “My dear, I don’t want anything. I only want to tell you that I love you.” She went limp and softly wept. I stood there a few minutes longer and it appeared she was falling asleep. I pulled her sheet up over her shoulders and turned to leave with tears in my eyes.

As I turned towards the door, I noticed two nurses standing there who had been watching. I met their eyes, and they too, were filled with tears. I regained my composure and as I walked by them, one of them said, “Thank you son.”

WATERBOARDING

SOME SAY CIA’s TACTIC OR HARCH INTEROGATION TECHNIQUE OF “WATERBOARDING LEADS TO QUESTIONABLE CONFESSIONS.

There is a lot of buzz today about “Waterboarding,” a torture tactic used by our Military, or specifically by the CIA, to try and get information from the enemy. The process involves tying down a person on his or her back and tilting that person downward, and then pouring water over the face and breathing nostrils. It causes a feeling of drowning and imminent death.

Generally, to the lay person, or non-military citizen, any form of torture is barbaric and should not be exercised. This has to be due to the lack of knowledge of its usefulness in wartime. Granted, torture seems to be excessive and cruel, but take a moment and think about it.

I was an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army and fought in the Vietnam War. I witnessed much suffering and many deaths on both sides during heavy battles, and after repeated attacks on us by the enemy, I soon realized that if we could use some form of torture to obtain useful information to survive and to be one step ahead of the enemy, it would be worth it.

There were times when we captured enemy combatants, who we believed had information that could help us prevent a lot of bloodshed, but because we had to conduct ourselves by the code of conduct set out by the Geneva Conference, forbidding torture, we could not force it out of them.

On occasion, the enemy entered a village and killed most of its able bodied men, then waited for us to arrive and walk into an ambush. Had we been able to force information from our captives, in advance, we may have had a chance to prevent some of these atrocities.

Torturing anyone is not for the faint of heart, but after spending some time fighting, one begins to harden and realize that if torture is the only way to gain valuable information to prevent suffering and death, then it has to be considered a necessary tactic in wartime.

Occasionally, when we suspected that our captives knew something we needed, but we could not get it out of them, we turned them over to the South Vietnamese soldiers, who often fought along with us.

These fighters sometimes used tactics that we could not exercise to make the enemy talk. For example, they would take the enemy combatants up in a helicopter and push them out, or drag them alive through the jungle behind a PC (personnel carrier). You would be surprised at how much useful information was gained that could be used to prevent suffering of a larger scale. (Of course a lot of this may not be admitted or discussed today.)

When the subject of torture is discussed, it would be wise to not condemn it without knowing how necessary and useful it is during wartime. In other words don't argue and rant and rave over something you know nothing about.

BAG LADY

My mind has been wondering lately and I found myself thinking about different things that have happened in my life. I was thinking about my mother who lost her battle with cancer several years ago. Up to that time, losing her was the most difficult thing I had ever dealt with...the hurt was brutal! A year after her death, I saw an old lady sitting on a bus stop bench. It was a very cold night. The snow was coming down heavily and the wind was blowing ferociously. I was still mourning the loss of my mother and couldn't help but to think she had to be someone's mother. The streets were very slippery and it was difficult to drive. She sat alone on the bench wearing only a thin, torn and ragged coat. Her collar was tucked up over her neck and her head was covered with a scarf. Her legs were bare from her knees down to her feet. As I looked a little closer, I could see she was only wearing a pair of summer shoes. Arising from her shoes and going above her ankles was newspaper which she had stuffed in them in an apparent effort to keep her feet warm. Her legs were red from the cold and I could see the strain and pain in her face. She sat there under the street lights and stared at the cars passing by. Near her on the bench was a large shopping bag, which I assumed contained her earthly possessions. I could not help but to sense the agony she must have been experiencing. I was not sure why this little, grey-haired lady would be sitting on a bus stop bench in a storm dressed as she was.

I drove around the block a few times and observed others as they passed by her. Only a very few glanced at her. Some laughed and pointed at her, but most people just simply ignored her or pretended not to see her. I thought to myself: “Why are so many people so heartless and uncaring.” I drove by her one more time and as I looked at her closer, I could see tears on her face. I pulled around the corner, parked my car, got out and walked back, and by her to get a closer look. I became convinced that she was in deep trouble, so I walked up to her and started a conversation.

She told me she did not have a place to go and had no relatives. I suggested the Salvation Army. She did not know where it was. I did some checking and to my disbelief, it was closed, besides it was too far away and beyond her ability to get there without help. I reached into my pocket and pulled out all the money that I had and handed it to her. She did not want to take it and began to cry. I insisted and shoved it into her frail and very cold hand. It was enough for some food and a room in an inexpensive hotel. Fortunately, there was such a hotel a couple blocks away. I got her up from the bench and walked her to it.

I was now without money for food and gas but I felt so complete and satisfied, knowing this little old lady would be out of the cold winds and snow...at least for the night...and enjoying some temporary relief from her misery.