Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...

The Editor’s Desk
Art Sharp
6
Can I dream for somebody else? ©
Is it possible to dream for someone
else—especially if that someone else died
way too early, while fighting to protect
other people’s freedom to dream? Now
there is a philosophical conundrum that is
as deep as the one about the tree falling in
the forest. You know—if there is no one
there, will anybody hear it?
Okay, what brought up the question
about dreams? It was sort of a “perfect
storm.” I was watching the end of the
movie The Perfect Storm and listening to
the character Linda Greenlaw’s eulogy for
the six crew members of the Andrea Gail, a
sword boat out of Gloucester, MA, that
sank while on a fishing mission.
She spoke right after the choir in the
Gloucester, MA church finished singing
“...for those in peril on the sea” from
“Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” also
known as The Navy Hymn.
Greenlaw said, “The only place we can
revisit them, is in our hearts, or in our
dreams. They say swordboatmen suffer
from a lack of dreams, that’s what begets
their courage... Well, we’ll dream for you:
Billy, and Bobby, and Murph, Bugsy, Sully,
and Alfred Pierre... Sleep well... Good
Night...” The mention of dreams brought to
my mind Rene Descartes, the 17th-century
French philosopher and mathematician.
Descartes asked this question about
dreams: how do you know that what we
perceive to be real life is not really a
dream? We spent hours kicking that one
around in Philosophy 101 back when Rene
and I were in college together. He convinced
me that he was right and I was
wrong about our answers—or was it the
other way around? Maybe it was all a
dream.
Well, Greenlaw and Descartes formed
two legs of my four-part thought process.
The third was the Fred Helems story on
page 58 of this issue. He had dreams, but
they were shattered on 9 June 1951 when
he died in combat at age 20. That has been
the fate of far too many men and women in
wars throughout history. They die with
their dreams unfulfilled and we, the ones
left behind, have no idea what their dreams
Maybe it’s just semantics, but I believe we can
dream “of” someone, but we cannot dream “for”
them. Death ends a person’s ability to dream.
The dead become dreams; the living become dreamers.
were. How can we dream for them? The
fourth leg was Memorial Day.
I did what so many people do on
Memorial Day. I attended a family picnic
with the people I love the most: my wife,
my daughter, my daughter-in-law, and my
grandchildren, and reflected on war, death,
and freedom.
My son and son-in-law were off golfing.
We “picknicked” and they golfed for the
same reason: because we can. Who made
that possible? The members of the armed
forces who have protected our freedom in
the United States—and elsewhere—for 234
years. That is why I think of dreams and
wonder if we can dream for anyone else.
Maybe it’s just semantics, but I believe
we can dream “of” someone, but we cannot
dream “for” them. Death ends a person’s
ability to dream. The dead become dreams;
the living become dreamers. The only way
we can remember with any degree of clarity
the service members who have given
their lives for our freedom is in dreams.
Sure, we can place their names on
memorial bricks, etch their names on grave
markers in national cemeteries, mention
their names at holiday services, etc. But do
we truly remember them that way?
I dream often of people I have known
who have served in the military and accepted
their final assignments. But, I do not
know what their dreams were. They had
their own dreams, which were cut short by
death. Mine are still alive. How can I dream
for other people if I don’t know what their
dreams were?
Oh well, it’s useless to try and answer
the question about whether we can dream
for someone else. No one has ever been
able to figure out whether a tree that falls in
a forest when no one is there makes a noise.
Likewise, there is no definitive answer to
Descartes’ question about dreams. All we
can do is somehow remember the service
members whose lives and abilities to dream
were cut short so the rest of us could dream.
And how do we know that their deaths
are not a dream? We don’t. I guess the best
thing we can do is thank them for their sacrifices
and fulfill our own dreams in their
honor, not only on Memorial Day, but
every day.
As for the answers to those other questions,
I will let them stay unanswered—
unless they come to me in a dream.
What do you think, Rene?
Copyright by Arthur G. Sharp
KOREAN WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY
Work has begun on your 2009 Korean War Veterans Association Membership Directory. As a
preliminary action Harris has sent out an email to all of the members who have an email address
on file in our data base. Attached to that email is a profile questionnaire which you are asked to
complete and return to Harris. You are also asked to send two pictures.
This is not a scam. Harris is an authorized contractor for the KWVA and their security is
guaranteed. Later on, you will receive a card asking you to call and verify your information ,
make changes, etc, and indicate whether or not you want to purchase the directory. There will
also be a personalized “Tribute Print” available for purchase. More details will be forthcoming.
You are not required to purchase anything. That is entirely your decision, but your profile information
will still appear in the directory. Please call me at (863) 859-1384 or email me at fcohee@kwva.org
if you have any questions.
Frank Cohee, National Secretary, KWVA
May – June 2009
The Graybeards