[Granville-Hough] 17 Mar 2009 - Flag draped coffins

[Trustees and Executors for Granville W. Hough]

	Yesterday I had removed about 10 growths of skin cancer on my back and
chest.  It takes exactly three weeks for these removal wounds to heal,
and I have to treat them with hydrogen peroxide daily.  It is just a
reminder of how serious sunburn and continued sun exposure can be.

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	The news one night some months ago discussed the controversy over
flag-draped coffins
at Dover, DE.  As I have had some experience in these matters, I believe
I can make a qualified comment.  I saw the lineup of Army coffins at
Fort Worth, TX,
after World War II, and it was my duty to take four of those coffins
back to the families, remove and fold the flag over the grave, and
present it to the next of kin, one to Oklahoma City, OK, one to Denton,
TX, one to Waco, TX, and on to Laredo, TX. This took place in the Fall
of 1948, and each trip took a week.
	I was a 1st Lt, and all those I took
home were also 1st Lt's, killed in Europe.  It was not lost on me that I
was the Escort, but just by a stroke of fate could have been the one
being escorted. The families were very kind to me, and made me feel as
much at home as the son they had lost. The saddest case was in Denton,
TX, where the young widow had remarried and was about eight months
pregnant  Her former mother-in-law had insisted on the return.  Her new
husband was not present during the services.
	Fifty years later I thought I could fold a standard flag automatically
with no error.  I was wrong.  It came out with ends left over and I was
indeed embarrassed.  It was at some ceremony in Leisure Village.
     The experience in that Army Repatriation Program did not make me a
gung-ho soldier, ready to conquer
the world just to spread democracy, to prevent the spread of weapons of
mass destruction, to counter Communism, or for any other reason.  War,
by any definition, in any location, for whatever justification, is
intended to be a deadly business; and so it is.  You fight and kill "the
enemy" until there is no more will in "the enemy" to resist; then you
can make peace.
     Well, there are in this world and life some marvelous things.  Just
take the glorious spectacle of Venus, the brightest I can remember
seeing it.  If it is clear tonight, go out and look at it.