[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] reminder:
celebration of Grandpa Sunday 2-4PM (plus my letter to him)
Karen Medina
kmedina at uiuc.edu
Sat Jun 28 16:24:14 CDT 2008
Maybe that is a good quote to use on Bob Wahlfeldt's poster.
And could we not say "anti-war veteran" -- it is too easily mis-understood.
Perhaps it would be better as "WWII veteran and a peace activist ever since"
Thanks Kimberlie for the link and the words you wrote.
-karen medina
---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:54:08 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Kimberlie Kranich <kakranich at yahoo.com>
>Subject: [Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] reminder: celebration of Grandpa Sunday
2-4PM (plus my letter to him)
>To: Peace at lists.chambana.net, peace-discuss at anti-war.net
>
>Very moving letter, Randall. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
>
>I wanted to let you and others know that Harriet Williamson interviewed
>Grandpa last October about his WWII experiences. He enlisted in the Navy
>and was involved in combat missions. In his interview he says: "The
>military teaches you how to kill when you go in but they don't teach you
>how not to kill when you get out."
>
>Grandpa's commitment to Civil Rights was formed in WWII when he discovered
>that a small group of black seamen were segregated on his ship. Their sole
>duty was to serve the officers.
>
>The interview with Grandpa is 1 hour and 10 minutes long. He starts to talk
>about combat and then his interaction with Black sailors around 38 minutes
>into the interview.
>
>The entire interview may be viewed at the link below (scroll down the page
>until you see his photo):
>
>http://will.illinois.edu/WWII/stories/C236/
>
>Peace,
>Kim
>
>--- On Thu, 6/12/08, Randall Cotton <recotton at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> From: Randall Cotton <recotton at earthlink.net>
> Subject: [Peace] reminder: celebration of Grandpa Sunday 2-4PM (plus my
> letter to him)
> To: Peace at lists.chambana.net
> Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 11:59 PM
>
> Just a quick reminder and an additional request for help for this Sunday's
> remembrance and celebration of Grandpa Wahlfeldt.
>
> It's at the IMC (202 S. Broadway, Urbana) from 2-4PM and we still need
> help from volunteers with:
>
> 1. Snacks (munchies like chips, cheese, crackers, fruit,
> veggies and desserts)
> 2. Drinks (like coffee, lemonade, iced tea, punch).
> 3. Help with setup one full hour
> before (starting 1PM)
> 4. Help with teardown a half hour after (until 4:30PM)
>
> We've had some folks come forward as volunteers, but we really do need
> more (especially in the snacks and drinks departments). Please drop me a
> line with what you'd like to offer.
>
> And remember:
>
> There will be a ceremony to permanently dedicate the downstairs
> meeting room in his name as "The Grandpa Wahlfeldt Family Room".
> There
> will be a display case permanently mounted in Bob's new room with items
> and photos from his life.
>
> We are also putting out a call for folks to contribute photos, articles,
> mementos and memorabilia of Grandpa that they would like to have on
> display in his new room. A group of us are committed to installing
> whatever is necessary in terms of display cases to make this happen.
>
> And in particular, if you want to write a letter to or about Grandpa to
> show what he meant to you, we'll make sure it
> gets securely displayed in
> Bob's new room.
>
> I've written this letter to Grandpa for the display case and I really
> encourage those of you who knew him to do something like this to help
> people understand why he was so special:
>
> *********
>
> Dear Grandpa,
>
> I'm writing this letter to you, though you've left us earlier this
> year,
> to try to help show people how special you were. I've found in my life
> that I've met virtually no one that I looked up to as a complete role
> model, especially in recent years after becoming an activist. But even
> though I only met you five years ago and I only got to know you very
> gradually, you wound up becoming someone I admire very deeply and
someone
> I aspire to emulate - indeed, a role model. And though I actually strive
> to follow your example in many respects, I often wonder whether I could
> ever match that example - whether it's even possible for me no matter
> how
> hard I try (though I still will try).
>
> I've never met (and I doubt I will ever meet) someone who has so
> completely overcome the human self-centered tendency we are all born with
> and utterly replaced it with a pure passion for the common good of all. I
> aspire to this, but I have work to do if I'm going to match you.
>
> I've never met anyone who, being so free of self-centered concerns, was
> able to see so deeply into the experience of others, even those who are
> very, very different from you with radically different life experiences
> than you, empathizing so profoundly with them that I could only describe
> it as seeing into their souls. I have tried, I think with some success, at
> empathizing with others in this way, but again, I have a long, long way to
> go to match you.
>
> And I've also never met anyone who had such a steady love and giving
> spirit for all individuals, not only for
> personal friends and
> acquaintances, not only for the oppressed and downtrodden, not only for
> total strangers, but even for what one might call "the enemy". Love
> for
> one's enemy. Though you may vehemently disagree with your enemy, I could
> see you still respected them as an individual, could empathize with them,
> and even love them. I've tried to grow into this and I'm getting
> better,
> but I still look to you as an ideal I've yet to reach.
>
> I wish I had gotten to know you sooner. I admit to being jealous of others
> who knew you so much longer than I did. Though I really only began to
> understand and appreciate you in recent years, I will still always miss
> you.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace mailing list
> Peace at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace
>________________
>_______________________________________________
>Peace-discuss mailing list
>Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
More information about the Peace-discuss
mailing list