12 September, 2001 - 19:27 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

After Shock

A man here in Denver, about my age who has many similar memories, but one different one. In World War 2, I worked for the railroad here in Denver, he experienced the horrors of war in Europe. Very seldom does he talk about the war, no war stories touting glory and heroism, but he speaks of pain and privation. He has a column in The Rocky Mountain News three times a week. I often disagree with him, on the big things, we are basically in agreement.

Recently he has been trying to demystify and deglamorize war and those who participate. In one column he recollected his experienced view of some American GI's, some of them, "Bad Guys," who served in his unit. He let us know that our boys had no halos on their heads and some did monstrous things to enemy and non-enemy alike.

We, as humans seem to be capable of violence against the innocent, of violating corpses by cutting off fingers to get the rings, of committing rape against women already devastated by the butchery surrounding them, of unspeakable acts of greed and black market profiteering. They were the ones who abandoned ethics and morality to satisfy a feral sense of rightness in what they did to others.

Gene doesn't spin tales of glory and usually what he says brings us to an understanding of how it really was. And he pointed out that among the American troops were some bad apples.

Today he once more says what is in my mind and heart.

To quote him in parts, "For years we have fought senseless battles among ourselves. We have been unable to put aside our hatreds of each other."

He goes on to say, "All that ended Tuesday morning when terrorists struck at the heart of our nation, killing defenseless civilians." He goes on to say, "We probably won't know for many months how many of us died. What we do know is that blind hatred of our nation and what we stand for were the reasons for the attack."

Then he says something that has been worrying me to death, "There is no rational explanation for this. In my own memory of war and terror, I have found nothing to equal it," he goes on to say, "As I write this, my five-year-old grandson, Jacob, has just left our house. As I looked at him, I thought how unfair all of this is to him. He deserves none of this, I cherish his innocence in a cruel, angry world."

Then Mr. Amole states one of the worrying things that happen in a time like this, "Our daughter, Susan, brought him here, hoping I could make some kind of explanation for what is happening to our family, our nation and our world. I had none."

We feared for the welfare of our kids as they grew up in the 60's - through the flower children era - Kent State - Kennedy assassinations - Oswald - and possible reqirement to serve in Vietnam. Next we worried about the welfare and safety of our grandchildren in the future, and now we have great-grandchildren. will their world give them security, peace and serenity ? What will they have to suffer ? I will be seeing my youngest grandchildren soon, how can I explain this unbelieveable thing, to illustrate the immensity of the slaughter and pain on into the maybe tenth generation from them ?

Mr. Amole's next to last paragraph really makes the point, "There must be a way to use this agony as a path to a kinder, better world. I don't know how, bet we must use this experience to benefit our children. We must find a way to put our anger and outrage aside in the name of a civilized world where we can all live in peace and respect for each other."

Today, to me came the After Shock . . . . . .

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