Time Capsule

The following is an essay I have written for a Scholarship contest. The prompt was " What would you place in a time capsule to help people opening the capsule in the next century understand military life today? Explain your choices."

If I were given the chance to pick a few items for a time capsule to help those in the next century understand the military life today, oh the things I would place. It would not be just one item, but many things. Each with a short note attached to explain my reasoning for doing so.

First, I would make a copy of my own father’s letter to me while he served in Desert Storm. Just a year ago I found this letter after I had been looking through some old files and documents. It was not only his birthday wish to me, but also his personal wishes and desires for the good health, growth, and well-being of his first child, his baby girl. After being cared for only by my own mother and her close friends, I first met my daddy when I was three months old. We’ve been inseparable since.

Next I would place a rubbing of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Nathan White’s tombstone, along with his family’s story of sorrow and strength. He died a valiant soldier, having served in Iraq while his family was stationed in Japan. Far from their own family, we, their military family, became their source of support and solace. Thereafter, I would place the book A Journal for Jordan by Dana Canedy, a heart-wrenching journal from a soldier to his son. This father wrote things of inspiration and advice to his young son “just in case” anything was to happen while he served his country. Tragically, that “just in case” came. Dana Canedy, the soldier’s wife and the young boy’s mother published this book as not only a tribute to her husband, but also a “heartrending reminder of the human cost of war.” What better object to place into such a time capsule?

Last, I would take photos from the United States Cemetery in Normandy, France, photos and documentary of World War II and World War I, as well as photos and documentary from all wars before and after; even being sure to place documentation of our first war, the Civil War, making sure that they are the first and last objects to be seen. I would place records and letters from the families, moving photographs of loved ones honoring those who have passed. This I would do because, it’s not only about military life today. It’s about Military life throughout the centuries. The sacrifices made throughout history, all building up to today. To this time and these people, to those not only living in America, but also those who have moved themselves and their families across the world, living in different countries so that we can continue and keep what we call safe, what we call home.