War... But 64 years ago

I lived in Israel for 2 years and my parents have lived there for 5. Although I was an awkward teenager, I still have friends there and know people in the IDF, so now that I find myself in Fiji with nothing to do but study for the GRE and swim, I rather spend all of my time watching the news. For some reason, either Fiji or my parents' Puritanism, we only get three or four channels here, one of which is sports, another a lot of Christian programming, and the last being run by the American armed forces. This is the only watchable station, but unfortunately I find myself watching a lot of Fox news and inspirational paid advertisements about combating depression and eating a balanced diet. It's basically a 24 hour repetition of the conflict in Israel and Lebanon. I'm scared by the possibility of WW3, as so many pundits are calling it... But a few days ago I got to take part in a ceremony that reminded me that not everything associated with the military has to make me feel worried.

The remains of a WW2 pilot and his plane were discovered by Department of Defense people a couple weeks ago in the mountains of Fiji. I don't think every country would do this, and I'm proud that the US did--we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to send an air carrier and army personnel over to do a series of memorial services over these 64 year old bones, do DNA tests to find out who he was, contact his family, and fly him back to them. Right now the ambassador to Fiji is gone so my father (with my mother and I tagging along) went as the representative of the US. I've never seen such a moving ceremony by both the Fijian and the American army--a Fijian and an American carrying the wreath, the unfolding of the flag, and representatives from both countries carrying the coffin onto the plane. It may be trite but every life is invaluable, and the fact that we went to so much trouble over some powdery bone fragments reminds us of that.