Forgive them Father, for they know not what
they do.
The mother stood in silence. She is the mother of one of the
four marines murdered in Chattanooga by a lone terrorist. A lone trumpeter faced her from midfield and
played Taps. The tones echoed in the stadium’s silence. The mother’s face was
projected on the giant video screen in the stadium. On this sunny Saturday at
the beginning of November, the sun warmed her face and dried her tears, for all
to see. She stood bravely in silence as she accepted
this postmortem honor bestowed on her son by the University; the audience
respected her in her grief and honored her stoicism with respect. Then as the band began to play The Star
Spangled Banner, a guard captain asked me, “Please, can we NOT hold our flags
at present arms? It’s too painful.”
