When your number's up

Today is the last time survivors gather to mark the day Pearl Harbor fell. The AP article mentioned "the passing of a generation," that those who lived through WWII are fading from our world. It brings a slight chill, thinking about time, history, world events that are shifting before us. The old horrors are further from us now, but new ones always take their place. It seems we'll always be facing or reading about violence and tragedy; civilizations never seem to get past them.

That we could all be so upbeat and determined like Edward Chun, who said, "I'll tell you a secret: When your number comes up, you're going to go. Well, every morning I get up, I change my number." Chun survived not only Pearl Harbor but the Korean and Vietnam wars as well.

Of course, nothing really stops the passing of time and the aging of men and the perils of this world. I had hoped that James Kim, the missing senior editor of CNET, would be found alive just as his wife and two daughters were rescued after their ordeal in Oregon. James and his family were on a long drive from Oregon to their home in San Francisco when they took a wrong turn and got lost in small back roads with heavy snow that never got cleared. They kept the car heater going until the gas ran out then bured tyres to stay warm. After that, James struck out on his own to get help for his wife and daughters. When he didn't return, Kati and the girls set off looking for the main road and were soon rescued. But James wasn't so lucky.

Many reporters and friends describe James' actions as heroic and sacrificial. Someone who put his wife and kids first, who died for them. He might've been the gadget geek, the smart, innovative fellow who was big on information and knowledge, but many will remember him for this last physical feat; how he took it upon himself to protect his family, how he covered a great distance and lasted a long time in the cold wilderness before dying alone.

Here's to the people who fought and died, or lived, while protecting something greater than themselves.

Posted by Monoceros at December 7, 2006 10:44 PM