My New Letter Series – Dear Families of American & Indian Services…

Dear Families of American & Indian Services,

This is a thank you to all who are serving the country, be it the United States of America or India. Your service and sacrifice are rarely acknowledged. The countries’ citizens acknowledge the personnel’s deployed or onshore services. And, why not! They go out to the front to fight against the enemy forces and valiantly! They return, sometimes wounded, disfigured, or otherwise, and sometimes they return in body bags with the national flag wrapped around them !! The families are the ones that sacrifice more than anyone else, and yet, we rarely acknowledge them.

While we all want our country(ies) to win every single battle and war, we rarely think of those families that die a death every single day waiting for their loved ones to return, even if maimed and wounded !! Yes, EVERY SINGLE DAY! Parents, wives, and children of those deployed die every day, only to wake up the next morning. Every time the doorbell rings, that dread intensifies as this could be the bearer of devastating news! This cycle continues until the son/ father/ husband/ brother/ mother/ sister/ wife returns, whether physically or in a body bag! Those personnel who return alive are felicitated by the government, but who is felicitating the families who made the biggest sacrifice? Sadly, no one!!

There is a saying in an Indian language Kannada, “ದಿನ ಸಾಯುವವರಿಗೆ ಆಳುವವರುಯಾರು? “ Crudely put, this translates to “who is going to cry for someone that dies every day!l” The truth is, over a period of time, humans tend to forget. We forget the sacrifices made by these unsung heroes. As a population, we exemplify the statement: What have you done for me lately?

While we, the normal citizens of our country(ies), wait for good news, either on TV or through email, these families don’t want to see any officer, other than their loved one, at their front door. The arrival of an officer at their front door only means BAD news. And yet, when these officers do arrive, these families bear the news with obvious grief and tears, but also with a courage and fortitude rarely seen in the normal everyday citizen! After all, they are the people who sacrificed the most for their country and will fight to continue living their lives. Picking up the loose strings and making sense of it while ensuring the members of the family stay united, focused, and, if they are children, do well at school, immediately becomes a top priority.

The children of those deployed are beyond brave! While they look longingly at their neighbors/ friends hanging out with their father/mother, you can rest assured their hearts are crying silent tears, and yet, they understand the fact that their parent(s) are involved in something bigger and of more value to their country! While the army, be it American or Indian, does support the families and goes out of its way to minimize the impact of such a loss, it is never the same!

I have heard stories of children being bullied by their peers! To those victims of bullies, all I can say is, “I am sorry. These bullies don’t understand the type of heroes you are”! And how could they? They, like the rest of us, are insecure mortals who feed on the misery of others! Do you disagree? We just had the Memorial Day Weekend! How many of us wished each other “A happy Memorial Day Weekend”? Happy? This is the day we memorialize our departed patriots. While some of us do that, apart from the occasional parade and singing the national anthem, most of us spend a major part of the day drinking our favorite alcoholic beverage!! The children of those departed soldiers are probably going through the worst weekend of the year! Yeah, we are insensitive and do NOT care for those families that are dying every single day!

The enemy is not always outside; more often than not, they are inside. Just think about the reaction(s) after the Vietnam War, and you will understand what I am talking about! We rarely think about these personnel, whether the war was necessary or not, is immaterial; they went and fought based on orders received!! The enemy inside questions the logic behind the war, logic in losing so many aircraft (Ala Rahul Gandhi), but are not even the slightest concerned about why such decisions were taken. The lives lost in a terrorist attack are, seemingly, of no consequence to these people. To them, all I can say is “get yourselves checked by the best psychiatrist in whatever town you live in”. I do believe, however, that there ain’t no doctor that can cure this disease! Does that make sense? Oh, what the hell, I live in the US Of A, where it does make sense, and that’s all that counts!!

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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