To the Editor:

The Westerlo Hometown Hero Closing Ceremony, held on Saturday, Nov. 17, was the best event I've ever seen at Town Hall.

Every seat was taken and many people stood, lining the walls. It was well organized, heartfelt, and personal.

The committee members represented themselves with gracious dedication to the task, and their work behind-the-scenes was evident in the result. They acknowledged the critical help of some by presenting special commemorative banners.

They thanked sponsors, some of whom supplied food for the occasion. They also thanked volunteers who were a big part of why things were as good as they were.

Watching family members receive the banners representing their loved ones was healing and the highlight for me. It acknowledged not only the veterans (at least two of whom, Stanley Lockwood and Fletcher Tallman, were killed in action) but their families (and friends) as well.

Whatever we may think of war and the justifications for war, Edward Tick, in his book, “Warrior’s Return: Restoring the Soul After War,” says that the only cultures that have not produced warriors have been those which have been completely isolated from other human societies.

He also says that our society has developed a national taboo against admitting the essence of warriorhood, which, as one of the speakers reminded us, is the willingness to die and to take human life. By contrast, Tick says, traditional cultures do not hide this part of the warrior’s job, either from the young who might follow that path, or from society.

Those who survive war are rarely unscathed. Many Native American cultures have traditions that help warriors return home — to a certain place, community, family, and culture. Returning to a normal life after the traumas of war can be extremely difficult. Some Navajo ceremonies, for instance, help war veterans return to a state of balance, or “beauty.”

Our society, our communities, can do much better than we do. The Westerlo Hometown Hero Closing Ceremony showed us one way to do better.

This is from Native Words, Native Warriors, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution:

Happily may their roads back home be on the trail of pollen.

Happily may they all get back.

In beauty I walk.

With beauty before me, I walk.

With beauty behind me, I walk.

With beauty below me, I walk.

With beauty above me, I walk.

With beauty all around me, I walk.

It is finished in beauty,

It is finished in beauty,

It is finished in beauty,

It is finished in beauty.

'Sa'ah naaghéi, Bik'eh hózhó

— From a Navajo Ceremony (Four Masterworks of American Indian Literature, edited by John Bierhorst, 1974)

Thank you for listening to me.

Dianne Sefcik

Westerlo