Solemnly Interred - 11/07/05

Bangor, ME - This morning I went out for a walk in the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, and before I forget the experience I thought I'd get it down here before we do R3 tonight and then spend two days traveling.

I had intended this morning to get on the treadmill before we left for the short ride to Bangor, but the stale air in the motel room inspired me to walk outside. Sarah had mentioned to me that there was a veterans cemetery right next to us, so I decided to walk over and around the cemetery grounds.

The entrance was a long driveway bordered on both sides by a small woods and crossing a small grassy stream. As I walked along I could smell that great pine forest smell. The air was a bit damp but crisp, and the sun was beginning to burn off the morning fog.

As I got to the main grounds the cemetery opened up to me. Military cemeteries are unlike civilian ones in that the headstones are not above the ground but at ground level. When you first look around you think there's a lot of open space there until you see the rows of headstones sunk maybe an inch into the grass. The cemetery is located on a small hill, so the paths winding around the grounds were all nice uphills and downhills, with perfectly even asphalt pathways.

I approached the main chapel, and on the way there were many memorial benches lining the roadside. The chapel was a simple, elegant structure, and in fact the entire cemetery had a beautiful elegance and simplicity to it. From the chapel I walked down a path lined by flagpoles leading up to a small circle and a memorial. Off to the side of the chapel was a monument containing what I believe were all the names of the veterans buried there.

It being so close to Veterans Day, my mind became flooded with thoughts of war and peace: the 2,000 dead from the current Iraq war, the dead from the Gulf War I, and particularly the over 58,000 killed in Vietnam. I thought about the fact that in our Much Ado we are celebrating the joy of war's end, but ignoring the loss, pain and trauma that goes along with that end. Our soldiers exhibit joy in finding love but no trauma in having seen death. I've always had trouble with that aspect of the production, but I had managed to keep it aside until it came back this morning.

I've always been a pacifist, having applied for conscientious objector status during Vietnam (I did not receive it because my draft lottery number in 1972 was not called). Every Veterans Day I remember those years, trying hard to do what I could to help end the war and keep people from dying. As I grow older it seems that those deaths haunt me more. I've not only seen how people can die physically, but how they can live physically, but die psychologically. And I always feel helpless and ashamed, not because I did not serve, but because I could not build that world where the need to serve did not exist. Iraq reminds me of that daily.

I left the cemetery and noted in my mind to remember to call the vets I know this Friday and thank them and wish them well. I took a moment to honor the dead, and I walked back through the beautiful morning to my room, packed up, and came to Bangor. I was happy to know that in Maine they have a beautiful place to repose. Honor for the dead; peace for the living. May we see that soon. -TWL

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