Richard M. McCarthy |
Around three o’clock this afternoon my friendly neighborhood UPS man showed up with a remarkable surprise – three hundred and thirty pounds of books. As you may know, I’ve been running a book drive through The Daily Prophet for the soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan. It began in August of last year and up until today had been moderately successful. I’d gotten maybe around 100 books or so from kids and their parents. Pizza Hut’s BookIt Program was even nice enough to send me a check for $200 to help pay for shipping. But nothing compares to this. A few days ago I received an email from Richard M. McCarthy, a World War II veteran from Florida. After the past year, what with the dedication of the WWII Memorial and all, you should also be aware how much I love and admire WWII vets. Mr. McCarthy is another fine example of the courage, dedication, and humility of his generation. |
Mr. McCarthy is the author of “The Chance Takers“, a work of historical fiction about aviation innovators throughout the ages of stunt flying, wing-walking, and WWII. McCarthy had been scheduled to go on a press tour for the book, but was unable to complete the tour due to health concerns. In a tremendous and honorable gesture of support, Mr. McCarthy has donated the remainder of the press print run to the Daily Prophet, to be forwarded to the soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan. He was even nice enough to send a special copy for me to read.
You’d think I’d be used to this by now, but this is just yet another overwhelming example of the kindness and sincerity of his generation. Working at the memorial dedication and with the Smithsonian’s WWII Reunion that week in May was a unique opportunity to witness this select group of people. With the one year anniversary steadily approaching, it’s beautiful to see such an example of their extraordinary nature and character again. It will be such a loss when we lose the last veteran from that era. We still have so much to learn from them, historically, culturally, and as individuals. Their sacrifices should mean the world to all of us.
Two-hundred and twenty books in eleven boxes are now in my garage. I was so excited over their arrival that I immediately dropped everything and set to work processing them. I’ve printed mailing labels, I’ve written new form letters to be included in the books that will specifically mention Mr. McCarthy, and I’ve sent out dozens of emails to units looking for addresses of specific soldiers in need of a morale boost. But what I’m most pleased about is a small project I just completed, a gesture of thanks to Mr. McCarthy. He must have spent a fortune shipping all of these books to me, I couldn’t have slept soundly tonight if I didn’t send him something to say thank you.
I just love days like this. Last night I went to bed rather disappointed. The past few weeks haven’t exactly been cheery. Far too many doctors in too short a period, a clinging headache that hasn’t relented for four days. I woke up today trying to think of something that would cheer me up but I kept drawing blanks. Just when I needed it most, eleven boxes of love showed up. A stranger has done something nice for me, and has allowed me to do something nice for hundreds of others. I think I’ll be smiling for weeks. It just doesn’t get any better than that.