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Today I #GoSilent for a man named Tom. I don't know his last name, rank, or very much else. He died in Vietnam. His story has always haunted me. The short version is this:
When my father went to Notre Dame, he, like all nerds in the '60s, thought he wanted to be an engineer. /1
When my father went to Notre Dame, he, like all nerds in the '60s, thought he wanted to be an engineer. /1
key flaw with this plan is my father is a genius, but a complete math moron. So the college of engineering was like abject torment for him.
He made fast friends with Tom, who had mistakenly enrolled in the college of engineering instead of the college of English (ENG error) /2
He made fast friends with Tom, who had mistakenly enrolled in the college of engineering instead of the college of English (ENG error) /2
So there they were, freshman year, failing math together, and knowing if they failed they got kicked out of school and sent to Vietnam. They also couldn't transfer out of the engineering program unless they had a marginally passing average. /3
<Thread> #MemorialDay is my least favorite day of the year, and it has been for at least 14 years. I want it to be a day where I honor the lives of the brothers & sisters I’ve lost by celebrating with my friends & family, but I’m not there yet. And I’m not sure I ever will be. 1/
Im working on it. I know that every last one of them would want me, and all of us, to live & celebrate life & make the most of every fleeting minute we have with our friends and families. And they’d want us to be happy this weekend. 2/
But I never am happy on Memorial Day. I feel loss & pain & guilt & shame. I think about my brothers & sisters the whole weekend, and so often throughout the year. I wish they were still here with us. I miss them every day, but especially this weekend. 3/
