Dorothy Rabinowitz recounts a very moving account of the respect and honor accorded to our fallen servicement. Specifically, we hear of the funerals of two Marines, one in Vermont and one in Massachusetts. The awesome aspect was the response of ordinary people who only knew the Marines by reputation—a reputation forged in fire and blood in Iraq.
As at Cpl. Evnin’s funeral, crowds lined the streets. Brian’s uncle Paul Finegan pondered the problems getting to the cemetery in Concord—a 150-car cortege traveling 50 miles on the busiest highway in New England. He had, it turned out, nothing to fear: 50 state troopers, many of them coming in from days off, had closed most of the road for them, a stretch of 35 miles.
Then came another sight he could scarcely believe. At the side of the road, near their halted cars, stood streams of people, standing at attention—paying their respects.
“They stopped all these cars, and people got out to stand holding their hands over their hearts,” he marveled.
Anti-war celebrities are holding forth about the backlash for their views, yet meanwhile ordinary Americans focus on what’s important. This is truly supporting the troops, not the mouthing of pieties shortly before equating what they’re doing as little more than as a massive injustice. And this is not the “blue” state heartland of America. This happened in the liberal Northeast bastion of “red” states. But this is America.
(Thanks to Lane Core for the link.)
