“Oh we need kindness…
Dateline: West Virginia National Cemetery
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
– Nelson Henderson
“I mean, db, the wreaths and what we will do with them, it means so…”
– Jerod Harman
West Virginia B.A.S.S. Nation Conservation Director
“…it means so…”
I’m talking with Jerod Harman, he’s driving in West Virginia. I’m sitting in Connecticut.
“…means so…”
He has told me he is a “big ‘ol backwoods redneck factory worker,” even though I never asked.
“…so…”
And he is crying.
And he couldn’t get through his emotion to finish the sentence, so I will for him:
“…much.”
“It means so much.”
Oh yeah it does, it really does. In fact it transcends fishing, and if you have a heart, and if you have feelings and compassion and this is what it is, what the “much” is about:
Jerod and about 80 volunteers, a dozen or more who were West Virginia B.A.S.S. Nation members, had just spent a cold morning “with rain and sleet falling from the sky” at the West Virginia National Cemetery removing 5,542 Christmas wreaths from the graves of the service people and their families who are interred there. This is why he began to cry…
“…you know, db, those people buried there, they served this country of ours, many died doing it, and they sacrificed everything for us and for all that we can do here in America. So in some small way when we collect the wreaths from their graves and turn those wreaths into a fish habitat, it’s like it is also a part of their legacy, something that they gave once again to us and to those who follow us.”
Then once again he choked up and couldn’t talk.
Me too.
“…just a little bit of kindness…”
“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.”
– George Bernard Shaw
The most important thing about life is learning how to live within it. And once you have that knowledge, the second most important thing is to pass that knowledge on.
Me, you, all of us, we just rent this joint.
It is not our Earth, not our lakes or rivers, not our fish.
All of it we bequeath to those footsteps not heard yet, our children and their children, and on and on.
The West Virginia B.A.S.S. Nation legacy is what they did to honor those footsteps in the clouds above.
All 5,542 wreaths instead of landing in a landfill will now be repurposed into a fish habitat structure in Lake Tygart.
“It is simply the most honorable thing we can do with the wreaths, in a small way extend the legacy of those for whom the wreath was laid.”
Going to be a long time before I get to quote a line better than that one.
“…let’s all do something kind everyday…”
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
– Albert Pike
Here’s the deal, every state has a National Cemetery within its boundaries, many times more than one cemetery. Many states have B.A.S.S. Nation members within them, you know where this is going…
…we’ve got this.
It is the “living” part of life, it is the part where that special place we have inside us that knows — knows — what the right thing to do is and encourages us to do it.
Do this.
Here’s some help to make it even easier. The Wreaths Across America folks can steer you to each state coordinator who can help you put together a wreaths for habitat kind of deal.
It took three hours for the folks in West Virginia to go out and give something back.
Three hours to collect 5,542 wreaths.
We got this.
“…yes we need kindness, just a little bit of human kindness…”
“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.”
– Betty Reese
My father served in WWII and he, along with my mother, is interred in the Florida National Cemetery, section 1d, row 2a. My sister Cheryl who lives near there, tends to their place with flowers, photos and notes.
Across the country I have friends who at the age of 18, 19, 20 were laid to rest within the hallowed ground of these cemeteries.
This is an easy give back for all B.A.S.S. Nation folks who live near one of the many National Cemeteries.
I challenge all the B.A.S.S. Nation members in the New England area to do this in their respective states, and if you do I would be more than honored to show up and help you do this.
“db, someday I hope to catch a fish off the wreath habitat. I think in fact it would be an honor to do so. More so, I think it would be an even greater honor that future generations will be able to catch a fish off the wreaths from the National Cemetery as well. And I hope, and I’m sure they will, remember where those wreaths came from, and the people who gave their all, for all of us.”
“…a little bit of kindness goes a long, long way.”
Kindness
By Scott Perry
Kindergarten-3rd grade song
db
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
