A Hero’s Homecoming
Today in the neighboring town of Clovis, CA, Army Corporal Nathan Hubbard will be laid to rest. He was one of 14 men that died in a helicopter crash in Iraq on August 22. He was in one of two Blackhawk helicopters that had just completed a mission and were returning to base.
What made Nathan’s death especially poignant is that his brother Jason was on the other helicopter. The two young men were in the same platoon, sent to Iraq from their base in Hawaii. They joined the Army two years ago, went through basic training together, and were assigned to the same unit. The reason they joined? To carry on where a third brother, Jared, left off. He was serving in the Middle East when he was killed by a roadside bomb 3 years ago.
The Hubbard family has now lost 2 sons to war, a great loss. As their father spoke, you could hear the pride as he called his sons “great young men.” Jason, the surviving brother, lost more than his brother that day. He lost half a platoon of men he served with, lived with, and bonded with. Because of an Army rule regarding sole surviving sons, Jason will not see combat again. Instead, after comforting his family and attending as many funerals as possible of his fallen comrades, he will return to his base in Hawaii.
As I listened to the news and heard interviews with the family, I was reminded of the film “Saving Private Ryan.” When Captain Miller finds Ryan, whose 3 other brothers have died in war, and tells him they have come to take him home, he refuses. The men he served with have become “the only brothers he has left.”
Some days it seems the debate over the war ignores the everyday heroes who have chosen to defend our nation, the value of their sacrifice denied. Pray for our troops today. Get involved in supporting them. They are paying a price we will never understand. It doesn’t matter what side of the debate you’re on - they are someone’s brother or sister, someone’s child, someone’s wife or husband.
