Friday, November 12, 2010

Generations

A day late but... :(

Sorry, today is one of my rare departures from humor here but I wanted to share one of the most powerful photographs I have ever seen with you all today.

It was in the Dallas paper six years ago today; it is still stuck in my soul.

The photo was taken at a Veteran's Day Commemoration at Dallas City Hall in 2004.

The older vet is Houston James, a Pearl Harbor survivor. (That generation is getting so rare now)

The Vet in uniform is Staff Sergent Mark Garunke Jr. a member of the ordnance disposal squad. He lost his left hand, right index finger and thumb, left eye and right leg in Iraq in July of 2003.

The two generations pictured here are separated by decades yet connect in ways that are difficult if not impossible for the rest of us to fathom.



and some people think football players are heroes. pffft.

Whenever you feel down about your life remember this photo.



PS I simply adore how Mr. James has reached an age where he does not give a shit if its unmanly to cry or not. Right there on stage in front of hundreds of people and the press. Who cares? And who is going to tell a Pearl Harbor survivor he is unmanly? For that matter who who would ever question Sgt. Garunke's manhood?

4 comments:

Justin said...

Fantastic photo! Very moving.

tammy said...

I love this photo. Very touching.

Dave C (waaay north) said...

Wow Rob. Very powerful photo and write up. Thank you for sharing this.

Logcpt said...

Thanks for sharing this!