“We know you were right there with us in spirit.”
So, wrote Nancy Damon in a short note to me concerning Arnold’s memorial celebration.
Yes, I was there in spirit and it is spirit that I thank Nancy for enclosing with that note, the testimonials to Arnold’s life at his memorial service on June 2, 2018. I should like to add mine in this writing. Writing is an exercise in spirit, as are gymnastics, exercise to the body
Spirit is our permanent connection. Arnold lives on in that connection. How fortunate was I to have experienced for the past five years a significant connection to Arnold and Nancy, Menda, and Deanna. A family who came to my rescue when I lost my most precious partner of 62 years.
Such a welcome healing for a broken spirit. To talk about spirit is talk about support. Without other spirits we are alone. Within the spirit we are together. Together in a supportive way when we love each other – family.
Menda, Me, Deanna, Arnold, Nancy at table in Austin, Texas – 2013
The love of family. The love of brotherhood. The love of good will and respect Arnold was all of that, and to its fullest extent. It is what two young boys born in the early 1920’s shared in 1945, though they didn’t know each other, and again in 2013, when they were introduced at a reunion of their WWII 13th Armored Division.
Ironically, on that very June 2nd of Arnold’s memorial service, I was participating in the Rochester Veteran’s Writing Group, and writing a story about my Company Commander, Captain Thomas Ford and honoring his supporting spirit. Captain Ford and Arnold did much to save my life with their spirit and I thank them deeply for it.
Let me tell you about Arnold in that process. We are all here to rescue each other. Military service is a classic example. In WWII we came disastrously close to losing all that was precious to us. God helped us to do what we needed to overcome the evil that was about to overtake all that we held dear. He was served in that task by the countless heroes who offered up their bodies. Arnold’s body hosted assorted shrapnel evidence for over 73 years.
Arnold and his family rescued me from my deep loneliness the very moment I met them. A “Damyankee” became a family member again. A whole new bag of support was opened and shared. Missing parts were replaced. Healing was starting. I found a long-lost brother. A brother with whom I could connect with the support of actions that saved ne, and to whom my actions would in some way reflect the same service.
The very next night, after my welcome, Arnold and I began to share our stories of support. Arnold and his brother Tankers were high on my list of thanks. I knew, as an Infantry soldier how Tankers saved our asses. In the picture below, I am describing a very close call in my experiences where two tanks fought off a battery of 88’s that were about to do us in. I am showing how two of the remaining tanks in front of us courageously went head on to attack the battery before they could do us in. The 88’s had already knocked out two tanks ahead of us and we were next in line. I never forgot the gut courage of those Tankers.
“Two Tanks going up the hill after the 88 Battery”
Since our first meeting in 2013, we have been drawing ever closer in every respect. By we, I mean not only Arnold and I, but our families as well. Two boys who in 1945 were completely unaware of each other, but, had so much in common. Who, when coming together 68 years later, bonded like brothers. Whose great grandfathers were probably involved with fighting against each other and did their duties to serve what they then saw as their cause. Saw it as family survival and did their duty accordingly.
Service on behalf of family is what life is about. Brotherhood is what life is about. Love of both is a communion with God. Arnold is in that place, doing that thing. Be happy for him. He has done his duty. He has achieved his rest and peace.
I am with him and his family completely in that spirit…