Today a chaplain's assistant and I traveled to northern DC to the large veteran retirement facility operated just to the north of Capital Hill. There we assisted in offloading the 250 residents whose home was destroyed in Gulfport to their new home here in the DC area. I'll just say these were people whose determination to not let this tragedy get the best of them was readily apparent. Military personnel from many of the area bases were on hand to assist with the transition to new living quarters. It was a great privilege to be of assistance to these men and women who have served our nation in the past at some of its most profound moments such as WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.
Here is a quote from one of the people evacuted to us:
"There were strangers lined up, and they all clapped and greeted us and said, 'Welcome home!' And that's just what it was," she said. "So this is like coming home to friends and family, although we didn't even know them. They were wonderful, and they even prayed for us. So I'm very touched. It's just a heartfelt thing to think that you're part of something so great as all these service people together care about each other." (read full story)
On a side note, I have one member who attends the service I conduct who as on the USS Pennsylvania during the attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7.
