The horrors of war have always been close to home for me. In my home town of Rahway, N.J., nearly every street is named after a fallen WW2 vet. My dad was a D-Day vet himself. As an 8 year old boy I remember my neighbor across the street crying when his 18 year old friend was KIA in Vietnam.
This past spring, Elizabeth NJ had to rename another street. On September 20 2007, we lost one of our former football players-Luigi Marciante. He was KIA in Iraq. He left a wife and a newborn son. If it never happened to you, you will never understand how you can never let this go. Luigi was not some gung-ho wannabe bad ass. He wanted to be a cop like his dad, but figured some military experience as an MP would also serve his country. A true citizen soldier.
I am very proud of his sister Enza, a former student athletic trainer of mine. She has turned this in to something positive- raising funds for the thousands of Vets who will return from Iraq & Afganistan disabled. Whether you are for or against the war, we have to support these men & women all we can. I will do future posts on this topic at a later date.
No comments:
Post a Comment