The Cost of War Photo by Elida Gundersen

A few weeks ago, my daughter Elida Gundersen, who is a paramedic and photographer living in Charleston, South Carolina, and I met in Boston for some time off together.  We decided that we wanted to visit Old North Church and steep ourselves in true patriotic American history, which we had not done since she was a young child.

The Old North Church is still an active parish and had this amazing memorial tribute made of dog tags representing each American who has died in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

This Memorial Garden is to honor the men and women in the Armed Forces and the civilians who have lost their lives in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.  We pray for all victims of war.  May their souls and the souls of the departed rest in peace.

It was a startling and sobering memorial.

For those of us in Vermont many of us have friends, relatives, or sons and daughters serving overseas in our military. Memorial Day 2010 has extra meaning for members of the Vermont National Guard and their families because 1,500 members of the guard are in Afghanistan.

According to WCAX TV Many of these Vermont National Guard soldiers are based in a very hostile are of Afghanistan at the Bagram Air Field.

Guard officials are reporting that five Vermont troops were injured in an attack on the base last week. In total, a dozen Guard members have been injured since arriving in Afghanistan earlier this year.

“It’s special here in Vermont because of the deployment we have underway in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Vt. Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Steve Cray. “It is significant to take a day and recognize their sacrifice and pay a whole day to say, ‘Let’s think about what they are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan today and think about their lives and what they are sacrificing for us.'”

Seattle Times: Hard-hit Vermont builds second memorial for wars in Iraq Afghanistan

It should: Vermont has suffered a terrible toll in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, losing 36 men who were either native sons, transplanted ones or former cadets at Norwich University military college.

The monument isn’t in place yet but will be soon.

The soldiers’ relatives helped

to break ground Sunday on the Vermont Fallen Heroes Global War on Terror Memorial, to be built at the state veterans’ cemetery in Randolph Center. Paid for with private donations raised largely by the families, the $350,000 monument marks the sacrifice of those who served and the heartbreak of the loved ones left behind.

War is not pretty.  People die and when they return home also suffer challenging memories and as we know now many also suffer PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  Norwich University students and cadets have done an incredible job making a very difficult film about the heartache of this particular war.  

Making the documentary “The War at Home” was no easy task.

The film, which a group of Norwich University students recently completed and screened at the college on Sunday, features interviews with soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and explores the challenges they have faced returning to civilian life.

But getting the veterans to talk on camera was tough.

Thatcher Moats wrote a detailed story in The Times Argus in March 2010 about the Norwich Academy documentary film.

According to Moats in The Times Argus article,

Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t going to Veterans Affairs Medical Centers seeking counseling, he said. The few that were going were not in good enough shape to tell their story, Estill was told.

“These global war on terror veterans are not going for treatment,” said Estill. “What we expected to exist to tell the story didn’t exist.”

The 210 veterans who originally visited Norwich to talk about the war to Estill and his film students could not open up, so Estrill and the students created a special class called the Veterans Seminar specifically to help veterans talk about their war experiences.

In the seminar, surrounded by other people who had seen combat, the veterans began telling their stories. Within three weeks of the start of the seminar, many of the veterans agreed to continue talking – this time in front of Norwich film students with cameras.

The veterans were each presented with the same 34 questions, and their answers, captured on film and interspersed with still photos and video footage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, forms “The War at Home.”

Vermonters continue to both work for peace, support our troops, and honor those lost in the war.  According to the Seattle Times,

Unlike other wars, for which memorials are generally erected in the aftermath, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have prompted the construction of war memorials while fighting continues. Dozens have been built, from Jackson, Mich., to Fort Bragg, N.C.

The new Global War on Terror memorial began as an idea among family members and took off with commitments of cash and in-kind services. Some gave money, services or discounts for their services. Among them: Rock of Ages quarry, in Barre; Granite Industries of Vermont; and Granite Corp. of Barre.

Made from Barre gray granite, the memorial will encompass a 40-by-45-foot area, with several elements:

– A field memorial called “Falling Leaves,” consisting of a semicircular pedestal with an M-16 rifle, combat boots, helmet and dog tags, and relief carvings of maple leaves, the citizen soldier and the Statehouse.

– A sarcophagus with the names of the 36 – and space for more – etched on top.

– Three monoliths – one for those who served, one dedicated to the families of the fallen and another containing a bronze plaque.

The Old North Church Garden is entered via a courtyard represented by a statute honoring Guardian of Freedom Paul Revere.

Paul Revere, Guardian of Freedom Photo by Elida Gundersen

The Sad Music of War Photo by Elida Gundersen

The last thing I want to say on Memorial Day 2010 is bring our soldiers home safely as soon as possible.  Especially here in Vermont where so many of the National Guard men and women have families in need of their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and sons and daughters.