A story told by Edward Tick, Ph.D., author of War and the Soul: Healing Our Nations Veterans from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, in an interfaith sermon from November, 2006:
Here is a story from My Lai, a hamlet as full of loss for the Vietnamese as Ground Zero, Manhattan is for us. I met a 75 year old woman there, the lone survivor of her entire family. Her parents, husband, children were all killed in the massacre. She said that it would have been far easier to die that day than survive to carry this pain her entire life.
Grandmother,” I said. “Then how do you feel about us Americans visiting you here?” "You must come,” she said. “Everyone must know the story.”
“I understand," I said. “That is why I am here. But what about our veterans? How do you feel about them returning? They might have killed your people. They might have even been here on that day.”
“No,” she answered. “You must understand this. Often I think the only reason I survived with this pain is so that I could live to meet your veterans, take their hands, look into their eyes, forgive them and help them forgive themselves and heal.”
Source: Tick's sermon, "Stop the Hate," from which this story comes, is linked here. His book, War and the Soul: Healing Our Nations Veterans from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is linked here. To read a quick web bio of him, click here.
