Last spring I was delighted when my sister Joan gave me this photo of Donn's favorite care package. Our aunt and uncle had mastered the sending of Scotch in a loaf of bread. In Donn's letters, his words fairly leap off the page when he receives this particular gift, which didn't come nearly as often as he would have liked. On his last mission, he was planning to return to base and "devour it completely, label and all." He didn't get to do that; maybe a guy in his unit did.Donn also wrote about drinking warm beer and how much he hoped Mom would forward his Playboys to him. A reporter for the Schenectady Gazette has e-mailed me that he now sets up two beers and some Playboys from the 1960s every Memorial Day on his patio. One beer for him, one for Donn. A fitting tribute!
6 comments:
Glad you posted this one. He would have loved this blog.
The note in the picture says, "Open bread with care." : )
I thank you for preserving and sharing your memory of your Brother. You made him so human and so full of promise and good humor. We should never foget him, others like him, and you and others who've suffered such great loss. After reading your book, I posted the following comments on my blog. I hope this kind of effort will cause each of us to remember, reflect, and try our best to be worthy of the sacrifice you and they have made. Don't know if it will fit in this space, but here's what I wrote:
LEST WE FORGET. . . “
June 27, 2009 ·
Recently I read His Name Was Donn. It is a collection of letters from a young lieutenant who died in combat in the war in Vietnam, interspersed with poignantly written comments by his “kid sister,” who’s grown up now, gotten her PhD and become a college English Professor and an award-winning author.
The book brings into sharp focus the sacrifice of the brave young men and women who are willing to give “the last full measure of their devotion” for their country. It shows also the deep pain, the lingering suffering inflicted on families who’ve loved so deeply and lost so much. It reminds me, too, of a debt I owe and can never repay. After carrying the cache of letters around for nearly forty years, Dr. Sweet-Hurd chose to deal with her pain. She opens her own heart, and along with grief that won’t go away, you can see the admiration and affection she felt for her big brother, who was obviously her hero. The book pays tribute to her beloved brother …an all-American boy who could have grown up just down the street from me. Or could have been my best friend, or brother, or my own son.
I don’t know about you, but especially on occasions like Memorial Day and July 4, my heart swells with gratitude and pride when I think of our service personnel and their families and what they’ve given and continue to give for us. If you view some more information on the website http://outskirtspress.com/HisNameWasDonn-LettersFromVietnam. If you wish, you may purchase a copy of your own through amazon.com.
Just a reminder that we should be grateful and pray for our military service personnel and their families, wherever they may serve.
God’s servant, your friend, ~donkimrey
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hi evie,
i hope that you enjoy your blogging. even though the popular thing these days seems to be twitter and facebook, there is still a place for this form of communication as well. actually they can work together for some purposes. i have tried twitter and facebook and have chosen to stick with the blog for the interest of written expression and the small community that i relate with.
i found your blog through don kimrey. i hope that you come and visit sometime at my blog. i actually have three blogs, but, my main one is called "just say the word" at http://justsaytheword.wordpress.com/
you will see that i write about my faith a lot. there is a lot to process there. i also found that even though i do not know much about writing, that i am encouraged to express myself in this way. i have found poetry, or what some people call poetry, to be an interesting introduction into the world of words.
i also like to take photos..."digital images" these days. and i can do a little bit with photoshop...very little, but enough to have some fun.
i also blab about other things as well. you can always check out page two on my blog, which has most of the blogs that i visit...it needs an update.
your book sounds like it must have been quite a trip through time and emotion to write. but, it also looks like it is treasured by it's readers.
nAncY
in oregon
Nancy--
I just went to your blog and read some of your poetry. I especially like the poem "Dust," with its opening lines
Fragile
I am dust wrapped in skin.
hey evie!
thanks for visiting :-)
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