I personally don't know that much about Mahlon Watkins but from the Wellsboro Gazette achieves I got that he ran track, fished in Hill's Creek Lake and was listed with others from Tioga County who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. Here is the complete list.
* Tammy Clark, Pennsylvania Genealogy Trails
Here is The Wall information about Mahlon.
I had a couple other considerations for this posting but felt the magic might work better with a little more public notice. I do not know the criteria for consideration, but the memorial has names of those from the local area who served in all the wars with a star by the name of those who were killed or died.
I would like to think that all casualties get as much recognition as possible but particularly those who died whether in combat or later as a result of their wounds or from one of the many other ways lives were lost in a war zone. It's a difference that few things can compare. I'm sure that's why the little burg of Holiday (or Crooked Creek) put up such an impressive memorial.
It's been awhile since I took pictures of the memorial. For many reasons, it was a personal time for me. Since then, I have often thought how difficult it was to be from Crooked Creek.
Lots can be and should be said about the war veterans who were not killed or died. They have their own particular struggles. Each war produces its own distinction but most come back changed in some way.
Some veterans wish they were dead and some eventually find their way to that end. Some have been horrible to live with and some have done horrible things. Others have recovered physically from their wounds or mentally from their memories or spiritually from seeing a side of themselves they did not know was there. Many others have overcome their experiences and have gone on with their lives as they first hoped. But few ever completely leave their war behind. Action of some kind is still needed. War is just that way.
I lost a friend in Viet-Nam. He was the brother of my closest friend at the time. He had been in hospital either sick or wounded and they let him go too soon or he chose to go back too soon. He wasn't even well yet from the thing that put him there. That very day he was killed by incoming mortar fire. (Is that the correct way to say that?) He was burned up.
ReplyDeleteCarl Sandburg wrote about that. He said "A heap of ashes means whatever was there went out burning." We put that quote in my mothers funeral program. She was cremated, her wish, not ours. But the quote seemed right.
I have spent years reading and rereading about GA Custer. I have a love/hate/stunned reaction to him. I keep trying to understand that drive in him for "Glory", thinking that if I only read one more book, maybe I'll get it. I never quite do, but I learn a little something each time and still, I do not understand the willingness on the part of so many, including Custer himself, to sacrifice the lives of men for naught. Then, your Blake poem. Maybe that's the insight I've been looking for.
The face of Mahlon, like so many others, like Dickie Crickenberger who at least was able to marry and leave a son he never saw that was his spittin' image,is the face of so many of the names on The Wall. I hope he gets his name etched in stone. 20 years. He at least deserves that. Thanks for this.
Elizabeth, I meant to respond to your comment before this. Yes "incoming" is correct. It's been hard to get any response from those involved with the memorial. Like for many in that area, it is easier to live in an insular world where things are more based on emotion than accuracy. I'm not sure if any war or massive loss of life is ever settled as each life has ripples, something that hasn't been considered in our recent foreign policy. I think most people want something different. There is a lot to not settling for the prescribed answers and explanations. I'm looking forward to all that you share on g+.
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