To the editor:

Mike Belt’s article on Lt. Thomas Graham’s heroism in the civil war is appropriate. My great grandfather, John Blank, was a sergeant in Graham’s 15th Indiana regiment and shared in the attack on Missionary Ridge. The 15th captured the ridge without orders to do so, was ordered back down to the base and, when they retook the ridge, the regiment suffered so many casualties in the second attack that it was mustered out a month later.

My great grandfather was severely wounded in that attack, and he was cared for by our family from 1865 until his death in 1915. Like many heroes of that war on both sides, he was denied a disabled veteran’s pension. We should never forget that a soldier’s terrible wounds are borne as well by his or her family and community. Whether suffered at Missionary Ridge, Argonne, Omaha Beach, Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sahn or Desert Storm One or Two, the wounded return to us and are ours, not “theirs” to care for. It is possible to mourn the living.

Tom Dolembo,

Lawrence