October 25, 2012
by wkirkland
In a powerful article called Atonement in The New Yorker by the unparalleled Dexter Filkins we get a story that should be part of every recruiting package to anyone who thinks joining the armed forces is a good thing to do.
It tells of Lu Lobello, a hell-raising kid who joined the U.S. Marines and found himself in a fire-fight in Baghdad that nothing. nothing, nothing, had prepared him — or any of his squad– for. Trained only for “when in doubt, light ’em up,” he was part of a massacre of an Armenian Christian family who were themselves trying to get out of harms way. His memories of the afternoon have destroyed the rest of his life: dishonorable discharge, heavy drinking, continual insomnia. Finally, in desperation, he decided to track down the young woman in the car they had shot at. And he found her — living in the United States, her shattered shoulder healed. Filkins, who had written about the family after the incident, helped arrange a meeting between Lobello and Nora Kachadoorian. And, out of uniform, away free fire zones and in the deepest wonder of human beings, he found forgiveness.
This is a story you will long remember. It should be widely known, and read for all its lessons:
- once in a war, you don’t get to chose what happens
- what happens in 10 minutes may affect the rest of your life
- bullets don’t know good guys from bad
- no matter what you’ve prepared for, you haven’t prepared for this
- no matter what your superiors tell you, they haven’t planned for this
- some people, some times, find empathy beyond the imaginable
Some excerpts… but read it all.. New Yorker Oct 29 & Nov 5 [Sorry, no complete link. You have to log in, or buy the issue, or go the library or a friend with a subscription, and of which will reward you] Read more of this post
Recent Comments