I had yet another case of insomnia last nite so I stayed up channel surfing and caught a few HBO documentaries. One of them, Unknown Soldier, is particularly powerful. It’s a story of a son’s quest to re-assemble the life and death of the soldier father he has never known.

In 1969, Lieutenant Jack Hulme was blown to pieces in Vietnam, just days short of ending of a tour that’d bring him home to his wife and his newborn son. 30 years later, John Hulme pieced together the life of a father he’s never known through personal accounts. Particular touching was the interviews of Jack’s father, a normally stoic 80+ year old man. It was clear Jack was the apple in his eyes and his death was a huge loss for the old man. Through the process, the son came to terms with the life and death of his soldier father. Very powerful stuff…

Watching that reminds me of my parents’ generation and the trying times they had to endure through the war. My dad and my uncles were soldiers in the Vietnam conflict. My uncle Ty went MIA in the early 70’s. I was too young to retain any meaningful memories of him. Like John Hulmes, I only remember him through pictures. One thing I do remember however was a blue/gray sweater with a large print of a racing car in the front. It was, according to my mom, my uncle’s gift to me after a trip abroad. That was probably the only thing that represents any real connections between him & I.

I imagine that it’d be very interesting for me to find out more about my uncle through the personal accounts of my mom & my other uncles. And one of these days, I might just do it!