Symbols are very powerful. I used to look at pictures like this and feel moved and patriotic. The idea of war was scary and I always hoped for better solutions, and the pictures of soldiers funerals, and soldiers coming home always invoked sadness for the families. All those feelings changed for me when my husband came home a year ago and told me he spoke to a recruiter. My husband and I had been married for 3 years and was trained chef. one day he decided he would stop by and get some information, and from that point on things moved quickly. My husband said he wanted to serve our country, and I mean who can say no that! After much conversation and advice from our family and friends he enlisted and went to boot camp September 3, 2013. Since then these symbols have a much deeper meaning to me. They still invoke sadness and pride but now it's personal. There are also feelings of fear. War is no longer something terrible that affects other families, now it affects me.
SI talks a lot about how symbols have meaning and that meaning can be different for each individual. There are some symbols that are cultural norms such a circle with a line through it signifying no, or a red octagon signifying stop, but then there are symbols such as the one above that can have personal meaning as well as societal meaning. The American Flag is used to represent the United States but it can also signify many different things to a individual. I once looked at those symbols proud to be an American and now I look at them proud of my hero!
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