“Every face seemed older than it should have been, more hard-bitten.”
~ George Hunt, Marines

“Going, they are young and in the best of health. Returning, they are old and beaten shells that once were men.”
~ Sailor describing those who debarked for & later re-embarked from, Pacific island battles WWII

The replacements gingerly surveyed old-timers and wondered, “Are we going to look like that?” Veterans saw that question in the glances of new men; with certain knowledge –

“Their youth will decay; they’ll become tired and aged”-but with a certain pity for innocence they knew would be lost, they seldom tendered the answer: “Yes, very soon.”
~ Gerald F. Linderman, The World within War

David Clinton Tharp, my 101st Airborne father pictured here returned changed after battle. He writes about those changes but emphasizes the greater change within…

And so it remains the same with all soldiers of all wars. They return different, changed inside and out. May we embrace them upon their return with compassion and gentle understanding of those changes and give them time to transition back to us.

COMES A Soldier’s Whisper remembering history and our soldiers one day at a time….

For videos, shared stories, book excerpt or book purchase, visit www.comesasoldierswhisper.com