Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day, I'm thinking about my uncle, Carl Laverne Lindquist, who gave his life during WWII as a B17 bomber navigator, on February 24, 1944 during an attempted training landing in Alexandria, Lousiana. Never knowing him has been one of the big deficits of my life. Sometimes I think I am finishing his life (he was going to be a Lutheran pastor after the war).

I'm also thinking of my deceased father Lennart, who suffered the excruciating loss of his only brother Carl, but then, six months later, himself flew 35 harrowing bombing missions over Europe as the copilot of a different B17 bomber.  (I once took Dad to see the movie 'Memphis Belle', a story about the first B-17 bomber crew to survive their missions, and he said its depiction of the last flight was very realistic.  Rent that movie if you want to know what it was like.)

I will never comprehend the bravery that these men demonstrated (and millions of others too). Dad, please know that I honor you and love you for who you were. I will never be the man that you and your brother were. I'm not sure that I agree with the strategic bombing that we did against Germany and Japan, that took so many civilian lives.  But that was out of your control.  Your example of devotion, courage, and selflessness inspires me to live a better life.

Rest In Peace.