Bombs of Hope

02.24.2011

In the summer of 2004, I had an internship at the Smithsonian’s National American History Museum in Washington, DC. Very soon after I arrived, former President Ronald Reagan passed away and I got to view his funeral procession down Pennsylvania Avenue where his casket was taken to be viewed in Congress’s rotunda. I wanted to go to the viewing but once I caught wind that the wait could be up to 16 hours long, I decided against it. I figured it was enough to be present for the procession. What I didn’t expect, however, was that the moment that would be embedded in my memory from that day would not be the moment I saw Reagan’s horse-drawn carriage ride by. It’s what happened during the 21-gun salute that is forever burned into my mind.

The Air Force conducted its “lost comrade” plane salute followed by a 21-gun salute done with an actual cannon which I quickly realized was about 100 feet away from me. Upon the cannon’s first fire, those of us standing nearby jumped out of our skin. I can’t begin to explain the noise and the power of the cannon; it scared me shitless even though I knew it was firing off empty shells.

I stood there and began to weep surprised at my own reaction but thankful that it was a funeral since I could easily mask the real reason for my tears. With each fire of the cannon, the reality that there are people, children, that hear this kind of sound every day surfaced in my mind. The Iraq War was well under way by this time and I couldn’t help but think of all the children that witnessed cannons and other military equipment aimed to kill (on both sides).

We are so spoiled in America even with all the daily struggles we have, with all the poverty and selfishness that surrounds us. We are content to go to war as long as it’s not in our back yards. I think about the horrors that my grandparents witnessed during WWII and other atrocities witnessed during that same time period. There’s no denying that humans can be kind, thoughtful and heroic but there is also such a dark side to humanity. It breaks my heart that there are many children who get exposed to that dark side at such an early age. We spend so much time in America focusing on the well-being of children and making sure that they have a childhood that, I think, we take it for granted. I hope, and I mean deep in my heart I hope, that the world experiences more kindness and that more children reap the benefits of that kindness instead of more bombs, guns, and death.