Reader Opinion: A reunion

Reader Opinion: A reunion

We have all seen the happy reunions when members of our armed forces have returned home to tearful and sometimes unexpected reunions with their loved ones. Sometimes staged at a school or a workplace. Last Sunday as I sat in church in Maricopa, Arizona, I couldn’t help but notice a striking young man who walked right down the center aisle of the church before the service started, dressed in his Marine Corp uniform. He walked to the very first pew and then we heard a gasp and an elderly lady stood and embraced him. They remained locked in each other’s arms for a few moments and then she turned to the congregation, and with her voice breaking, simply said, “My son.” The people responded with applause.

I took something from that reunion as an onlooker, besides a mother’s love for her son. This family was a Hispanic family and I wish every so called white supremacist could have seen this regal young man dressed in the uniform of our country’s finest. Yes, they would have seen how dignified he looked, just like I did, but more than that they would have seen how, despite every eye being on him standing in front of that church in that impeccable uniform, he wasn’t there to show himself off, he was there to honor his mother in God’s house.

We are a land of immigrants and it’s been that way since the Mayflower dropped anchor. Our wars have been fought by people of every race and ethnicity because that’s the makeup of our country. Yet there are people in our country who feel that this country only belongs to the white race. Once there was another man in Germany who had wild ideas about white supremacy. He’s history.

Mike Holst

Crosslake