Loraine Anderson: Cooking up some thanks for troops

Opinion

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Loraine Anderson

December 30, 2010

By Loraine Anderson, Associate Editor ---- The Record Eagle Thu Dec 30, 2010, 06:14 AM EST

He looked so out of place — a tall, trim, fit man in camouflage uniform and military boots standing defenseless among shelves lined with flour, sugar and baking powder.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you know where the coconut is," he asked as I pushed my cart down the baking goods aisle at a local grocery store around Thanksgiving time.

I didn't.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, continuing his search down other lanes.

I headed off to collect the makings of a holiday dinner, wondering where he would spend Thanksgiving and Christmas. Was he home on leave? Was he headed to Afghanistan? Was he reservist? Or career Army, he looked like he was in his late 30s or early 40s? Was that a sergeant's patch on his uniform? Did he have kids? How many? How old were they? And if he was headed to Afghanistan, how did his wife and kids handle that?

With the questions came the TV images of Afghanistan and in other dangerous trouble spots around the world.

A lump started growing in my throat. Over the last several months, I've gotten a closer look at a soldier's life on the front lines and a deeper understanding of why it is important for me to remember our veterans, their families, their service and sacrifice even though I abhor war and have deep concern about the wars of today.

The Record-Eagle had just published a two-day series on World War I soldiers and the Traverse City home front. I was beginning work for another series about local Battle of the Bulge veterans that ran earlier this week. I was reading a book about the Allied occupation of Berlin written by the commander of the unit my father served in.

I had begun to receive calls and e-mails from the great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews of local World War I veterans who had stories, letters, journals to share. War affects soldiers and their families for generations.

I had spent the summer looking into eyes of soldiers in more than 200 pictures submitted of area veterans of all wars for a "A Tribute to Our Troops," a book the Record-Eagle published in the fall. The recurring thought: They look so young.

Something started cooking when I saw the soldier in the baking section. I realized how war-weary I felt, how much I do care about our soldiers and their families. I understood how much I have came to distrust our government since the United States invaded Iraq on the pretext of weapons of mass destruction being there. I saw how worried I am about our country and all the war-torn areas of our complex world. I sensed my fervent wish that our nation could study the ways of peace with the same energy we study the ways of defense and war.

I saw the soldier one more time at the checkout line with his wife and an overflowing grocery cart. I overheard them tell the checkout woman that they were having an early Thanksgiving dinner. I looked for coconut on the conveyor belt and saw none.

It was only when I got to my car that I understood the reason for the lump in my throat. I'd wanted to thank him for his service and didn't.

Associate editor Loraine Anderson can be reached at landerson@record-eagle.com or 231-933-1468.