I don’t know how many more trips I’m going to be making to the Netherlands or overseas. It’s a beautiful cemetery, extraordinarily well-maintained, and he’s been adopted by a Dutch family, so he now has more than one family that cares about him.ĪRTHUR CHOTIN: This past December I had my 70 th birthday, and I realized, here I am, I’m more than twice as old as my father ever was. I can’t imagine a more appropriate setting for him to be in.
Now as an adult I am very grateful that he is buried in the military cemetery in the Netherlands. It would have made it something I could have dealt with. As a kid it probably would have been better for me if he was buried here. We all know that life isn’t fair, but that’s not fair. He’s always the age of the photographs I have of him. I used to say, “What did I do in my lifetime to have to deserve somebody as wonderful as he?”ĪRTHUR CHOTIN: My father is fixed in time. And it’s really a shame because he was such a decent person. The war was over in Europe and it was just a horrible accident, I guess, that was destined to be unfortunately. And when I went downstairs I said, “It’s good news, isn’t it?” He said “No, it isn’t.” And when I opened the letter I started screaming. SYLVIA CHOTIN: When the doorbell rang, and I, I said… you know, I said, “Who is it?” He said “Western Union.” So I thought it was the telegram telling me that your father was on his way home. He was in a jeep on his way from Le Havre, France to Brussels and somewhere in Belgium, either in Liege or Bruges, I’m not sure which, the jeep was in a head-on collision with a British truck, and he was thrown from the jeep and suffered massive cerebral hemorrhaging and died instantly. And I think that that’s what people sometimes don’t remember.ĪRTHUR CHOTIN: My father was driving to Belgium to go to the company headquarters to try to make arrangements for himself and for the other people in his unit that had the same number of points that he had to repatriated back to the states so he could be with his family before the end of the year. There’s all sorts of reasons why people are killed. Vast throngs of grateful, happy people celebrate the end of fighting, the dawn of peace.ĪRTHUR CHOTIN: Just because there was VE Day, just because there was VJ Day doesn’t mean that soldiers didn’t die. NARRATOR: Arrangements are now being made for the formal signing of the surrender terms at the earliest possible moment. The victory won in the West must now be won in the East. TRUMAN: General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations. Now you are drawing forth your life and abundance from the source.PRESIDENT HARRY S. That is the life of the prodigal.” But, he continues, “The moment that you realize, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’ or by the body, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, you are not living on your strength, your supply, your body, or the number of your years. Each day you are using up some of your life … each day some of your strength, health, or wisdom is lessening in the human picture. In your human sense of life, you are a prodigal son. Goldsmith says, “In any moment of your life, you can begin the journey back to the Father’s house. This is a journey which is accomplished within ourselves as an activity of consciousness. We have immersed ourselves in the deceptions and illusions of the material world, and if we want a life of true peace and harmony, we must make the return journey. Drawing its title from the biblical story of the prodigal son, The Journey Back to the Father’s House explains that we have wandered away from knowing our true Self and our spiritual home in the kingdom of God within.
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