Musings of the Chronologically Challenged™ Fourth Generation

 
Posted on Mon, Feb. 07, 2005

Son's death didn't sway his father's patriotism
BY RICHARD HYATT
Staff Writer
Ledger-Enquirer
Columbus, GA


To his father, Cpl. Mark Prevatt is forever 20, a United States Marine proud of his uniform and proud of his service. He'd be 42 now -- probably a husband and maybe a father -- making kitchen cabinets in the shop his grandfather opened in 1950.

A Sunday morning in Beirut swept away Prevatt's future and the future of 240 other Marines who were sleeping in their barracks on Oct. 23, 1983. The scene is all too familiar in today's world. A truck loaded with explosives brazenly drove into the U.S. compound. The young Americans never woke up.

Sixteen days later, on the tarmac at the Columbus Municipal Airport, Victor Prevatt welcomed home his son. He arrived on a Delta flight in a cardboard carrier. On the side of the box, in large green letters, was a warning: "Handle with extreme care."

Continue reading the Prevatt story here.

From the official website of the United States Marine Corps.




INCOMING
from Greg, Ayden, NC

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
"We'll do it tomorrow?"
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It's like an unopened gift - Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.
Hear the music
Before the song is over.



posted by HCL at 1:15 AM