Tag Archives: Veteran’s Day

Faith, Oklahoma culture

11/11/11 I Hate War

This is a re-do.  I submitted basically the same piece for Memorial Day.   

When I was young, I cut my teeth on WWII movies where war was glorified.  John Wayne in The Green Berets made me zealous for militarism.

On 11/11/11  I remember — again — the day I learned that war was not the glorified world of the movies.  The very first funeral I ever attended was for a son of Apache, Oklahoma.  PFC James McClure was killed on May 2, 1967, the day before my 11th birthday. He was 19.

Once again I reflect. I recall the message I delivered to an over-flow crowd of mourners in the early spring of 2008.  The governor of Oklahoma sat on the front row, along with a  young widow and her toddler son, Gage.  As I stood before the men and women gathered at that funeral, I found myself confronted with the very real issues of honor, duty, courage, and sacrifice that Veterans Day represents.

The following is the text from that day’s message. Continue reading 11/11/11 I Hate War →

Oklahoma Horizon TV

On the Horizon: A Marine’s Love Story

My experience with doing stories with war veterans is those who have seen the most, talk the least. I think there are some memories they had just rather forget.

Put Charles Migliorino in that category. It was only by chance I heard his story. He was interviewing for an associate district judge appointment, and I was a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission interviewing him. It was after the interview was over, he added, almost as epilogue, the thing he was most proud of in life was letting a sister hear her dead brother’s voice for the first time in 40 years.

I was fascinated, as I think you will be in this week’s video blog, with this Marine’s Love Story.

Rob McClendon