Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Sam – Welcome to this edition of Newsgram! 

If you’ve never been to our nation’s capital I highly recommend it. We once took a family vacation in early April, which was unusual for us because the kids were in school, but we were able to be there for Cherry Blossoms season which made it extra special. 

In addition to walking the National Mall, one of my favorite memories was walking through the Arlington National Cemetery and visiting the tomb of the unknown soldier. Put this on your list if you plan to visit. As we journey there today on our virtual trip I want to set the scene by taking you back to Memorial Day 1982 when then president Ronald Reagan said “I have no illusions about what little I can add to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words cannot repay the debt we owe these men. Theirs is a noble cause”. 

One of the most visited grave sites is that of former president John F. Kennedy who just weeks before his assassination in 1963 said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” And I think that’s exactly what Pasquale Varallo is doing. Pasquale Varallo once served as a Tomb Guard and in 2018. On the anniversary of the end of WWI, – a full century after the signing of the Armistice of 1918, he put together a tributecalled “ A Tomb Guard Remembers” and thanks to the help of his good friend Jen Gordon it is now a book. 

Jen Gordon – A Tomb Guard Remembers was written by my friend Pasquale Varallo because he was a former tomb guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the late 40s after the Second World War for about eight or ten months before he went into the regular military. And he stayed a part of the Tomb Guard Association his whole life until he just turned 94 about two weeks ago. He’s still kicking strong.

Sam – That’s incredible and it’s really a testament to the bond Pasquale feels with that sacred place. Just to give you some perspective, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a monument located in the middle of Arlington National Cemetery. It has been there since 1921 and is dedicated to unidentified American service members who died in war. It is a symbol of honor and sacrifice for U.S. military personnel who have given their lives in defense of the nation. If you’d like to visit there is no cost and the changing of the guard takes place every hour. I  think you will really enjoy seeing it. Anyway, the book is a powerful collection of poems and songs written by soldiers who fought in the war, some even by Pasquale himself and the loved ones who waited for their return.

Jen Gordon – Because he was such a big part of the Tomb Guard Association, and he has published books in the past, mostly on his own of poetry, they asked him to put together an anthology for the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that took place in November of 2021. So what he did was he went through a whole lot of time he spent going through poetry that had to do with war, whether it was written by soldiers, by soldiers who’ve come home, by family members left behind while their loved ones were at war, starting as early as the Revolutionary War up through the First World War, which is what the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier starts at. He put together this book, and he really wanted somebody to kind of have another set of eyes on it who was good with English and writing.

And through a mutual friend, we got connected. And we met one day at the library one afternoon on a Sunday, and he showed me his story, which I fell in love with. And I helped him put it together in book format. So in the height of the pandemic, I decided that I was determined to get this book published for him so that he could see it in his hands while he was still able.

Sam – Isn’t that amazing? It was written during a period when people had a lot of time to reflect — thanks to the pandemic. It is an incredibly moving tribute to military history but you don’t have to be a history buff to appreciate it. If you enjoy poetry, war history, or just a good story, I think you’ll find something meaningful in this book.

Jen Gordon – I think it’s just so diverse in that way, because you get a little taste of the Tomb Guard and what it was like at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but you get to see what Americans’ eyes were through war, starting with World War I, all the way up to, excuse me, starting with the Revolutionary War, through the Civil War, and then up to World War I. He chose to stop with World War I because of the impact of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. But I think that it’s just such a good genre for multiple facets. So please don’t let the title turn you off. There is a little bit about past war in his life, but the majority of it is poetry he took the time to put together that he felt was an important portrait of war in different facets.

Sam – The cover features a black and white photo of a soldier in battle gear with the title “A Tomb Guard Remembers”. Its a great picture but Jen reminds us not to judge a book by its cover. 

Jen Gordon – Some people may get turned off by the book when they see the cover because it says, A Tomb Guard Remembers, which is what Pasquale wanted it to be called, because in the beginning before the poems, he does a little reminiscence about war in general, a little bit about his time as a tomb guard and why he put the book together and what it meant to him. So I think a lot of folks, when I’ve talked to them, just think this is a whole 155 page book of a gentleman talking about his time, and it’s not.

Sam – She says her favorite poem was number 11, Here Dead We Lie by A.E. Housman and while Housman was not a soldier himself, World War I had a profound impact on him, like it did many others in Great Britain.

Jen Gordon – Here dead we lie, because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose, but young men think it is, and we were young. 

Sam – A great way to summarize this book is found in the online description which reads A Tomb Guard Remembers offers a moving glimpse into the past through the voices of those who lived it. Jen couldn’t resist adding her own touch to the collection, the female perspective if you will, featuring a poem from a collection representing the voices of women who experienced the Vietnam War firsthand.

Jen Gordon – The one thing that I added to the book as a personal touch is on the last page, page 195. And it’s not really a poem. It’s more of a quote by Norma J. Griffiths, who wrote about the Vietnam War, ironically enough. But it’s called The Peace to End All Wars. Let us think no more of the war to end all wars. For only in complete destruction of all would that be possible. So let us think of the peace to end all wars. And perhaps finally, working with the right tool, we can create the goal.

Sam – For my entire life the United States has been involved in some type of conflict and it seems there is always a war going on. While we currently celebrate a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza there is still a war going on between Russia and Ukraine but that doesn’t mean we should stop hoping for peace. Maybe it’s a long shot, but peace is always worth working toward.

Jen Gordon – World War I was either called the Great War or the war to end all wars. And of course, we all know that there have been wars since then. Norma J Griffiths wants us to understand that there probably will not be a war to end all war because like she said, none of us would most likely make it survive it at this point in this day and age with weaponry. But if we all think about peace, maybe we can only have to reminisce and remember and read about war and not actually have to live it.

Sam – Wouldn’t that be something?Pasquale Varallo is now ninety-one years old. He lives in an assisted living facility. Here’s Jen talking about the moment she showed Pasquale a hardcover copy of his book. 

Jen Gordon – He was just enthralled. I mean, I have photos I took of him just holding the book in his hands. He had tears in his eyes. And as much as I’d like to say it’s become a bestseller, it is not, but every penny was worth it to see my friend Pasquale’s eyes light up, to see the book that he worked so hard on in his own hands.

Sam – If you choose to purchase this book you should know that the proceeds do not go to a large publishing house. They go to the people who put this book together. A Tomb Guard Remembers by Pasquale Varallo’s is an emotional tribute that I think is worth considering and I’ll leave you with the words inscribed on the sarcophagus itself, “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”

And that will do it for this edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.