The Shrine Down the Hall

This is really powerful....
The Shrine Down the Hall - Bedrooms of America's Young War Dead - Slide Show - NYTimes.com

 

What struck me was how you could tell that those rooms were left by individuals that were somewhere between kids and adults...the Marine poster, and the Lord of the Rings poster. Very powerful.

 

Even more sadder, the rooms probably have not been touched since they were deployed.

You are right Luke, some of them appear to be young boys and girls unfornately such is the life of someone in the military, you never know when your time is up.

May all heroes rest in peace.

 

Looking at photos shown to me by a parent of a kid killed in Iraq back in '03 struck me the same way. 82nd Airborne poster on the wall, dress uniform hung on a rack in the corner, and radio control cars taken apart on the desk. Good for us to look at such things from time to time...so that we never forget the cost.

 

I was struck by the dog curled up on one of the beds.

My step-son is 23 and his room could have looked the same - at least on a tidy day - and in his room he used to hang a Canadian flag. I too noticed the Stars and Stripes, the posters, and various "treasures" that reflected the youth of the person who last slept there. Did you notice the rooms in which there was a chair situated as though a grieving mother or father sometimes came and sat to think about their lost child?

In the past 100 years, I expect the bedrooms of our young fallen have often looked similar.

 

I wondered if anyone else had picked up on the chairs. A couple that I have come to know rather well in the course of volunteering with their organization often share stories about going to just sit in their son's room. He's been gone almost 7 years now.

 

Lest we forget indeed. I love Memorial Day, yet I hate it. I will be posting photos tomorrow of the memorial we put up for SFC Blaskowski....the town really came together.

 

Thanks for the bump, Biak. I'm off work tomorrow. Going up to see Matt. You'd think things would get easier after years. It doesn't.

 

Worth another bump. Happy Independence Day

 

This is worth another look

 

Again, I come here to find some kind of peace. This year has been challenging at best...it's nice to get some perspective.

 

Luke, you will always be amongst friends here.

 

Talk about a punch in the gut - I knew the young man in slide 20 from the time he was maybe 5; waterskied with the family, played golf with his dad, attended the funeral.