HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER:

A Cadet Hopes to Honor a Father Killed in Combat (CHRIS HEDGES, December 19, 2002, NY Times)

When Jeremy D. Scott was 10, his father, a United States Army helicopter pilot, was shot down by rebels in El Salvador and killed.

The boy played out his grief on the living room floor. He set up plastic soldiers that fired away at a pretend helicopter. Then he swooped down with his toy gunship to wipe out enemy troops. No helicopters crashed when he played. In his games the helicopter pilots always won. The soldiers, little green plastic men, always lay scattered about, only to be righted again for another battle.

"Maybe I played a little rougher than other kids," Mr. Scott said. "Maybe my emotions were held in, coming out in big lump sums. Things built up. I was explosive. It was tough to watch fathers play with their sons. I don't know when I really got over it. Maybe when I began daily devotions." [...]

He conceded that it has not been an easy journey; indeed, the twinges of pain are evident as he nervously wrings his hands as he speaks about the loss. But he sees his route as one that allows him to validate not only his own life but also that of his father. And giving in to anger, turning on the military profession that led to his father's death, was a negation he was not prepared to endure. In the end, Cadet Scott found that one of the most straightforward of the commandments - one that many can fulfill without great sacrifice - profoundly shaped his destiny.

"I do believe that through my life I am honoring my father," Cadet Scott said. "For the most part I believe that any little boy growing up wishes to honor his father and make him proud. I remember my father telling myself and my mother that if I was to ever join the military to be an officer. Not only am I going to be an officer but I am graduating from a prestigious military academy. My father would be proud of my determination and ability to make it through West Point." [...]

Even after what happened, Jeremy Scott liked war movies. He drew "dark pictures." His family, despite the loss, found structure and meaning in religious and military traditions.

These worlds offered an anchor, a sense of purpose, an unquestioned and noble call to duty, to God and country. For him, as for much of his family, these religious and patriotic demands were intimately intertwined.

Nice story from their Ten Commandments series (see below), but one wonders why folks who have found an answer in the call of duty, God and country are always assumed not to have questioned it. The assumption is rather condescending, as if questioning has to lead to negation rather than faith. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 19, 2002 8:40 PM