Like a lot of Americans, the Atlantic story, Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers,’ has us remembering the service and sacrifice of family members.
Politico reported today in Trump continues counterattack on military comments:
. . .The Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, CNN and Fox News all confirmed some elements of The Atlantic’s 1,500-word report, but Trump and his allies have denied since Thursday that he made such comments.
Be that as it may be, we've been thinking about our maternal uncle, Staff Sgt. John D. Osborne, who was murdered as a prisoner of war in the infamous war crime known as the Malmedy Massacre during the Battle of the Bulge. We wrote about him in Memorial Day 2020: Remembering two uncles back in May.
On Friday, we tweeted:
If anyone can visit my uncle's grave in Fort Snelling National Cemetery and leave a flower, I appreciate that.
— Sally Jo Sorensen (@sallyjos) September 4, 2020
That drew pledges from friends and followers--and a similar post on Facebook caused several friends from around the country to leave flowers at his Find A Grave Memorial.
But the most touching response came from a stranger, delivered via Twitter while we dug a decent harvest of potatoes here in Summit, South Dakota.
It was this image in the tweet:
Hi Sally, I don’t know you and you don’t know me, I saw your post because Dan Feehan likes it and I like him. I was planning a trip to Ft. Snelling anyway and left a flower and said a prayer for your uncle. pic.twitter.com/xxgNG7cXgc
— Sarah Hayden (@smhayd04) September 5, 2020
Here's the whole image:
Thanks for the great kindness for a Minnesota POW whose body lay in the snows in Belgium from December 17, 1944 until January 14, 1945. The gesture drew tears and a prayer that more people can nurture that degree of empathy. Bless Sarah.
This country needs more of that, and less snark.
Photo: The bodies of American POWs who were murdered at Malmedy by German soldiers were later found frozen in the snow. The corpses were numbered; John's body was Number 1.
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