Comments for Kindred, Dearer Than Life at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Thu, 23 May 2013 03:44:47 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/kindred-dearer-than-life.html#comment-7305 We attended three funeral masses since January for WW II vets - one a Navy mustang who died at 94. Until a few weeks before his death, he and his wife were at daily mass; he sang in our adult choir for over twenty years. SHE ran the monthly adoration in our parish (recruited people, submitted bulletin notices, reminded the priests!) for over a decade, including the years after she quit driving (and HE was laundring the alter linens and driving her to church for Adoration times). Another died in his middle 80s, was also career Navy, was at Mass most mornings, and acted as sacristan about every two weeks until shortly before his death. The third I did not know personally. You may be accurate about WW I memories; but we are losing the "greatest generation" WW II guys at a rapid rate now; and if the ones I know are typical, they will be greatly missed. TeaPot562 - TeaPot562 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:54:33 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/kindred-dearer-than-life.html#comment-7303 Being of Irish descent and having no real knowledge of my actual Irish ancestors, I very much appreciated your article, Brad. As I read it, I thought of Pope Benedict's admonition to Europe to not cut off its roots. I think we in America should heed that advice, also. It's good for me to know from where I came, in a larger sense, so I can attempt to live up to the standards those people set. Thank you for writing this. - Dennis O'Donovan Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:55:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/kindred-dearer-than-life.html#comment-7301 You write very well Brad. This is a very enjoyable article. My wife and I spend long weekends in Sharpsburg, MD which is surrounded by the Antietam Battlefield. It was there on Sept. 17, 1862 that the Fighting 69th joined two other "Irish" regiments which attacked headlong across an open pasture. They were among the 23,000 casualties (dead, wounded, missing, North and South) which resulted in that ONE DAY battle. It was such a horror that Lincoln, five days later, signed the Emancipation Proclamation to be effective Jan. 1, 1863 in the hope of creating a force of freed slaves only in the states which seceded. - Manfred Mon, 04 Jul 2011 05:37:20 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/kindred-dearer-than-life.html#comment-7300 thank you, brad, for this great patriotic piece. adding the movie to my netflix queue even as we speak. i liked your opening. haha. even my home-schooled daughters and army boy asked, "who's McKinely?" don't yell at me. there's only so much time to teach so much history....so thanks for the short version and the movie. time. it's a choice between Moses the Bible or MGM. we go with Bible first then watch Heston and forever after it's charlton's voice in our heads as we read Exodus. for war stories it's usually the other way around.... are their great priests in the military now? has your son found one? - debby Mon, 04 Jul 2011 03:35:04 +0100