Today I was meditating and thinking of Memorial Day. My brother will be going to Bay Pines tomorrow to my fathers grave. My father fought in WWII. He was a very proud soldier and was hurt in the war and after he was released from the hospital he decided to go back and fight for his country. We have many of his medals today. My father died of Alzheimer's Disease in 2004. He may have forgotten who we were, yet he always had clear memories of being a soldier.

My brother fought in Viet Nam. We were always so worried about him. He was my only brother. War is horrible, but it does grow boys up into men in a very short time. The experience of training should be for all young men (or women) yet I hope that someday there is no more war anywhere in the world.

My son was going to be a Marine. He was so excited that after high school he was all set up to go. He had a horrendous car accident (we almost lost him) and after his many surgeries, he was devastated to find out that an officer came by and told him that he was no longer able to go. We never even thought that my son would walk again, but he is strong and works in a very dangerous field. He works in Hazerdous Materials, but he still thinks of the Marines.

My nephew is a Leutenant in the army today. Our family is proud of our men. I do hope that our service people come home soon. I hate war, yet my family loves this country and will protect it if they can. All of the men in my family have been in the service. Today we honor all of them. We also honor those that we do not know and who have perished.

God bless our service people. Thank you for protecting our country. I pray that all of you come home soon.

D'Maria Scaglione