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By the Pond
Memorial Day: Donald Hunsberger and Joseph Delemme
29 May

Memorial Day: Donald Hunsberger and Joseph Delemme

sidonamarie Blog 0 0
Arlington Cemetery, Bangor, MI, USA

Arlington Cemetery, Bangor, MI, USA

My husbands father, Donald Hunsberger (picture below), was a Master Sargent during WWII. He lost his left leg just below the knee. I never met him. He died April 30, 1984. Gary, my husband, said there was only one thing his dad told him about the war.  His dad and one other soldier survived a battle. His dad was on the ground, with a tourniquet on his leg and smoking a cigarette, when a German soldier walked by but did not shoot him. It perplexed him.

Donald Hunsberger (left)

Donald Hunsberger (left)

Joseph Delemme (no picture) was my great-uncle. He was younger brother to my Gramma Peggy. He was a Sargent in WWII. Uncle Joe only told my Gramma two things about the war. One was that he was leading his men up a hill and could hear people coming up the other side.  They were ready for a battle. When they reached the top, it was a troupe of Allies and all were relieved. The second was that he saw one of the death camps and the pile of bodies. That’s all he ever told her. Gramma said he would not talk about the war. He had such a gentle heart and soul. I can’t imagine how he maintained that after his war experiences. But, thank God  he did. Uncle Joe could give the best bear hugs. He would lift me off the ground even when I was grown. He died in his 60’s.

The truth that these two men would not speak of the war strongly suggests its horror. Even after coming home, they still protected those they loved. The mental and physical toll exacted on adults is catastrophic. Now add children who witness it. In WWII people were treated worse than animals. Those people, those human beings, included children. We must never allow the targeting of a group or groups of peoples as less than another – especially in the USA. This country was built by foreign immigrants at the cost of those already here – the Native Americans. I hope most of us have grown since then and will not allow it on this soil again.

Two perfect songs this Memorial Day weekend: One Tin Soldier and Imagine.

 

 


imagine peace kindness Memorial Day peace politics veterans WWII
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About the Author

Written by sidonamarie

My poetry has been my therapy over the years. In 1993, an unusual traumatic event occurred with me. Poetry over the years has been my sorting out process. I have always had a strong spiritual nature balanced by strong doubt. During period of tremendous confusion, my poetry (sometimes more like stories my son thinks) helped me remember who I am, how I feel, and what I think and always have from a child. The theme I hope comes through is that we should not have our heads too far into the clouds or too deeply into the dirt. Life lives as balance somewhere in the middle with little visits to both edges. All 56 years of my life I have lived in Michigan. I was born in Kalamazoo September 16, 1958. My parents separated when I was young do to my mother’s mental illness. Dad died in 1965 at 29 from a cerebral hemorrhage. I was 6 when he passed. Grandma Peggy (my dad’s mother) went to court 7 times in a year and a half to fight for my younger sister (Kim who was mentally impaired) and me, because my dad had asked her too. She won custody of us. So, I lived with her in Bangor, Michigan through high school and college. I didn’t begin to write poetry until I went to live with my aunt (my mother’s sister) in Wartervliet, Michigan while attending Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor. My aunt lived near my mother and her mother (my Grandma Elsie). After 2 years there, I attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts major in English and minor in Elementary Education. Right out of college fall of 1984 I was hired at St. Mary’s in Paw Paw, Michigan as a kindergarten teacher. I taught kindergarten for 1 year half days and was moved into a full-time first grade position for three years. I met my husband Gary during that time. On October 17, 1987, we married and I moved to Fennville, Michigan where I still live. Gary and I have a son age 24 and a daughter age 19.


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