youth.

As close as we are today, tomorrow when we come back from that battlefield, we will be as close as two men can possibly be, sharing a bond that can only be forged in the face of imminent disfigurement.

– Jeff Melvoin

It’s amazing to think that 60 years ago boys my age (including both of my grandfathers) were overseas fighting in the greatest war of the modern age.

I cannot begin to understand what they must have gone through, nor can I begin to express my gratitude and admiration for them. Valour and bravery for the ages – shown by boys in their late teens and men just beginning their adulthood.

At the start of the conflict in the middle east, I pondered the reality of being conscripted to go to war. The thought scared me unbelievably. I wouldn’t imagine being able to keep my composure in a such a situation, facing so much death and the greatest of adversities. I’m thankful the world I’m growing up in is a different one because of them.

My grandfathers often have long conversations together during occasions when both of our families are together. Every so often their conversations will drift to the war. At that moment you can notice a glimmer in the eye of each. This is the greatest bond they share, a bond that no one else could possibly understand. Two men from the same small town, torn away from it all and dropped into a world much to big for them, with nothing but a mere “good luck, do your country proud.” A cruel tie that binds.

It doesn’t seem that we very often give the deserved respect to our grandparents who sacrificed so much for all the generations to follow, and it amazes me that they were able to do so since at my age I can hardly decide what to do with my own future.

To them I not only say thank you, but I salute with all my heart.