Staying Alive

Last week I talked with a veteran, a World War II sailor on a seaplane tender in the mid-Atlantic. He told me of the many German submarines the task force sank. His ship was full of fuel and would have exploded with the impact of one torpedo. He told me there were three rules in the military: stay alive, stay alive and stay alive. But then he told me of people who could not face combat and committed suicide. At least some of them wanted control over their own death, even though it was not clear that they would die. The possibility was enough. I have never been at the point where life was not worth living and the prospects ahead not worth facing. In that sense I have been blessed.

(Flanders Field)