Clara Gantt
Yesterday, President Obama gave a stirring address to a large crowd gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day. The most inspirational moment of his speech occurred when he acknowledged special guest, Clara Gantt...the wife of highly decorated (Bronze Star/ Purple Heart) WWII/ Korean War soldier Joseph Gantt.
President Obama's comments...
"We draw strength as well from the love of the spouses of the fallen. Sergeant First Class Joseph Gantt was a young man but already a veteran of World War II when he met Clara Edwards on a train headed to California. He spent two years courting Clara before she finally agreed to marry him. Then, when Joseph deployed to Korea, he told his young wife to remarry if he didn't come back. She told him no. He had a hard enough time getting her to say yes in the first place, she said. He had waited two years for her; she’d wait as long as it took for him to come home.
When Joseph went missing in action, Clara waited -- she waited 63 years. Meanwhile, our country continued to work to bring home the missing from all our wars. And then, last December -- last December -- his remains finally identified, Joseph returned home to be laid to rest. Clara never remarried during those 63 years. And now 96 years old, she was there to welcome him home. And we are honored to have Clara Gantt here with us today."
Clara's Final Goodbye...
“I told him I missed him so much...and I expect him to come home and he didn't."
Joseph Gantt
1924-1951
Based on the shoddy treatment of our veterans at the hands of the U.S. government (latest VA scandal, unemployment, homelessness, etc.)...maybe it's not too late to put Clara in charge of Veterans Affairs!
- Frederick Douglass (1871)
"Dark and sad will be the hour to this nation when it forgets to pay grateful homage to its greatest benefactors. The offering we bring today is due alike to the patriot soldiers dead and their noble comrades who still live; for, whether living or dead, whether in time or eternity, the loyal soldiers who imperiled all for country and freedom are one and inseparable.
No comments:
Post a Comment