Memorial Day

David called this week and said, “Mom, I’ve been looking on the internet for your blogs which mention taxis. You’ve told a couple of stories with taxis in them, but I can’t find them.”

“I told you those stories,” I said, “but I never posted them on a blog. Neither had anything to do with Denmark or any of my travels.”

“Please post them anyway,” David said, “I want to see them in print.”

One of these stories was about Colonel Faith. I never knew him, doubt I ever heard his first name. He was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor after the Chinese overran his unit during the Korean War. This Memorial Day seems an appropriate time to remember him.

Col. Faith’s youngest brother, Ed, a slim, white-haired man who looked younger than his 80 plus years, sat next to me at lunch at the senior center in Albuquerque. Despite looking healthy, Ed had a heart condition; tubes in his nose pumped oxygen 24 hours a day.

Ed’s father and his three brothers all served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Ed’s father was a general. The colonel was the eldest of Ed’s brothers. The middle one was a captain. Ed was drafted but was discharged after a few weeks of basic training because of his bad heart. Amazing: he still was alive and coping with a fragile heart 50 years later.

After their father died, their mother had a large monument erected over the general’s grave in Arlington Cemetery. She added the eldest son’s name, as Colonel Faith’s body was never recovered.

“When my remaining brother and I die,” Ed said, “our names will be added to the monument, too. Then it will list General Faith, Colonel Faith, Captain Faith, and (for me) Private Faith.”

Several years after his brother’s death, Ed was in Washington, D.C., attending college and working part-time as a taxi driver. One day a man got into his cab. Looking at the name on the visor, the passenger said, “Are you related to Colonel Faith?”

“He was my brother.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten out of Korea if it hadn’t been for him.”

In all wars men die. Some die to achieve worthy goals. Others die needlessly in accidents or due to the stupidity of commanders. Over 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam in a war we never should have fought. Iraq and Afghanistan are also wars we could never win.

Some receive medals that are undeserved. Lyndon Johnson did not deserve a medal for flying to Vietnam to inspect the troops. Many true heroes are never recognized.


That day in the taxi Ed learned his brother died enabling others to live. The passenger in his taxi validated his brother’s life. Col. Faith deserved the Medal of Honor.