廿歲孩兒的老媽子一一情懷和蛻變

廿歲孩兒的老媽子一一情懷和蛻變

 

整場追悼會，身為廿歲孩兒的老媽子哽咽了…… 電台那頭，傳來 Jon Meacham （老布什的傳記作者）的聲音，再次述說1944年9月2日那難忘的一幕：當天，廿歲的老布什在飛機已經著火的情況下，勇敢果斷的繼續執行轟炸日本的任務，並協助兩位戰友先跳傘，最後他自己才跳。當時情況比想象還糟糕：跳傘時，風把年青老布什往後吹，他的頭部撞到機尾受重傷，整個人垂直往大海衝去 …… 任何有廿歲孩子的老媽子，任何時候聽到這段，相信都會情不自禁地眼眶泛淚…… “All babies are your baby” 隻有做了母親後才能深切體會.....猶太人有句諺語説一一一一上帝不能無處不在，因此他創造了母親。 

 

 有人説看老布什廿歲的軍人照片，看起來像十六歲。廿歲，真的好年幼！好年幼的一個年紀！人生才剛開始！廿歲，跟我的孩子一樣大！廿歲，戰場上，廿歲的戰士：敵方的廿歲…… 我方的廿歲…… 為何讓年幼無辜的廿歲孩子互相撕殺！ 為何戰爭如此如此如此殘忍！！！一股神奇無法阻擋的力量讓所有做母親的人關心人類的將來比關心自己的一切更強烈……

 

雖然得以存活，老布什沒有停止過為痛失戰友而內心嘶喊！也沒有停止過思考活下來的目的！直到有一天，他覺得活著不該隻為看著傷疤灑淚，而是要用這傷疤去為別人做有意義的事。從此以後，更堅定了他為國家做公僕的意誌！是誰賦於老布什這股正能量？『老布什受母親（ Dorothy Walker Bush ）的影響是父親的十倍』… 了解他的莫過於結婚70多載的發妻 （ Barbara Bush )。富裕的母親忍痛不溺愛孩子，從小灌輸孩子忠誠和戰勝自我，以身作則，服務人群抑製狂傲。女人固然是脆弱的，母親卻是堅強的。 —— 法國諺語

 

當天，年青老布什的任務就是炸掉日本的 radio tower 一一 這個塔，蹂躪了數不盡的中國人：男的、女的、老的、莊的、年青的、年幼的、還有還在母親肚子裏的…… 雖然，這一場戰爭已經成為可恥的人類曆史，代價可卻是沉重得超出能承受的！回想這一幕，老媽子又再次哽咽！做為孕育生命的母親，怎能容忍生命被如此邪惡糟蹋？

 

老布什的離別，喚起了舊時代的回憶。他帶走了一個時代，把雲彩留下。多少人的犧牲，多少人的努力，留下了今天這一片沒有轟炸機的晴天和幸福 一一一一 時代堆積的幸福！

 

…………

悄悄的我走了， 
正如我悄悄的來； 
我揮一揮衣袖， 
不帶走一片雲彩。

＜再別康橋 徐誌摩＞

 

 

備註：

節録部分：The text of Meacham’s speech （washingtonpost.com)

 

The story was almost over even before it had fully begun. Shortly after dawn on Saturday, Sept. 2, 1944, Lieutenant Junior Grade George Herbert Walker Bush, joined by two crew mates, took off from the USS San Jacinto to attack a radio tower on Chichijima. As they approached the target, the air was heavy with flak. The plane was hit. Smoke filled the cockpit; flames raced across the wings. “My god,” Lieutenant Bush thought, “this thing’s gonna go down.” Yet he kept the plane in its 35-degree dive, dropped his bombs, and then roared off out to sea, telling his crew mates to hit the silk. Following protocol, Lieutenant Bush turned the plane so they could bail out.

Only then did Bush parachute from the cockpit. The wind propelled him backward, and he gashed his head on the tail of the plane as he flew through the sky. He plunged deep into the ocean, bobbed to the surface, and flopped onto a tiny raft. His head bleeding, his eyes burning, his mouth and throat raw from salt water, the future 41st president of the United States was alone. Sensing that his men had not made it, he was overcome. He felt the weight of responsibility as a nearly physical burden. And he wept. Then, at four minutes shy of noon, a submarine emerged to rescue the downed pilot. George Herbert Walker Bush was safe. The story, his story and ours, would go on by God’s grace.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/05/george-hw-bush-got-hear-his-own-eulogy-before-he-died-his-reaction-was-priceless/?noredirect=on

 

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/20/obituaries/dorothy-w-bush-mother-of-president-dies-at-91.html