No Greater Love

I am a big fan of The Pentagon Channel.  Friends and family will sometimes ask me why I watch so many military and news programs. Well this morning program called "No Greater Love" reaffirms why I do.  So many of the programs touch me.  They touch me as a mother, a wife, as an American...as a person. 

This morning I watched a documentary about a couple who enjoyed 67 years of love.  Young people who fell in love prior to WWII.  They both found themselves in the Army.  Spent time apart.  He was injured and spent a year and a half at Walter Reed in rehab. 

All of you are wondering why this simple story would touch me so.  It does so because it reflects so much the story of my own Grandparents.  My maternal grandmother to say the least was everything to me.  If I could become anyone in this life, it would be her that I would pick.  She and my Grandpa fell in love prior to the war beginning.  By the time he joined the Army they had started a family.  So off he went leaving behind his new bride and young son. 

He left one man and came back another.  My Grandpa was wounded in a tank explosion while he was serving as a combat medic.  He suffered severe life threatening burns over his entire face and head.  He was shipped home and spent a great deal of time at Walter Reed and then to another veterans facility in Boston.  He underwent numerous skin grafts.  He had both of his ears remade. 

The story this morning made me stop and really think of just how incredibly hard that must have been for my grandmother as well.  Times were so different than.  There wasn't skype.  There wasn't sending of text messages.  She went a long time before she saw my grandfather once he arrived back in the States.  She didn't know how her husband was going to look or act when they were reunited.  But she loved him.  It didn't matter.  She was home waiting for him and ready to fulfill the commitment they made to each other. 

My Grandpa wouldn't hardly ever ever ever talk about his war memories.  I always knew the scars on his face were minor compared to the scars you could see in his eyes at times.  He was my Grandpa and I loved him as he was.  I can still feel his rough bumpy skin on his cheeks.  I kissed his rough cheeks with as much love as I kissed my Grammie's soft wrinkly ones :)   I always had these great feelings of pride for him.  I knew each scar represented his sacrifice and his commitment to our country. 

So anyway, some ask why I watch The Pentagon Channel....well I ask, "Why do you not?"