Tonight we heard a very sad story from a friend, whose young son killed himself after returning from Iraq. The chaplain from her son's unit, who had served with the Army reserve in Iraq, a middle-aged pastoral leader in civilian life, had been routed to Louisiana to help with Hurricane Katrina "efforts" after returning from Iraq. As with some others (e.g., the USMC's "Marlboro Man"), this seems to have been just the "1-2 punch" of too much devastation in too short a time to deal with, having seen so much chaos and tragedy in his time in Iraq. The chaplain's marriage did not survive, and the man is currently living in a homeless shelter. If the combination of "too" much war and devastation is what eventually broke this man's spirit, and we hope only temporarily, we feel nothing but compassion and great, great sadness for this loss. Perhaps we are asking people to "handle," without resources, much more than they are able. May it not be the case tomorrow, as well.
In the words of the Eagles' song by Don Henley, "There's a hole in the world tonight...don't let there be a hole in the world, tomorrow."
