Blog @ Work

Subject for Blogger of the Month May

Write a 300-500 word tribute to a person living or dead (man or woman) who you think is a hero. Include why you think that person is a hero. E-mail me the link by Wednesday, June 14 @11:59 PM WDC time.(BCoFs)

My late Uncle Frits was a hero. He died at the age of twenty-one while serving in the Dutch army in 1961 in New Guinee. The irony was that he stepped on a landmine while leaving the country because the war was over and he could leave and go home. He never made it!

My mother was pregnant with me at the time. She mourned during her pregnancy. The story goes that my grandfather’s hair turned white when he heard the terrible news. The whole family, my grandfather, my grandmother and ten kids were in shock.

Years and years later, actually a few years back, we, as the family, got word from the Dutch government that they wanted to honor Frits posthumously still. On a sunny afternoon, we met with a few army people in the garden of my aunt and uncle and there were a speech and a plaquette to honor him. Although it was a bit late, according to everyone, it still was a special day in memory of that young man that served his country.

The plaquette was taking turns in the different households of the family members. My father and his wife had this memento also a few months inside their home. It was very special.

I never knew my Uncle Frits, of course, I wasn’t even born, but his death has influenced my birth in a way. My mother was very sad when she was pregnant. I think that sadness has been the undertone of our troublesome relationship during my childhood. My brother, who was born a year and a half after me, was called Frits. To honor my uncle and my grandfather who also went by that name.

We are an Indo-European family, of my mother’s side. That means we cherish our heritage and the country of Indonesia dearly. The memory of Uncle Frits and his death will remain part of our family history forever.

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