A House That Has Done What a House Should Do: A Tribute to a Great American
by Lawrence Kadish • June 8, 2021 at 5:30 pm
National leadership is meant to reside in the White House, capable of providing America with a shared vision that allows democracy and its citizens to thrive and flourish. And yet this White House may mirror the darkness that Kilmer mourns.
Kilmer knew what he was fighting for. He insisted on leading multiple patrols that put him in harm's way. He wore the uniform of the "Fighting 69th" because he was a patriot who embraced American exceptionalism before the world even knew that a world power founded on freedom had been born.
He was an American doughboy killed by a German sniper in the closing months of World War I, defending freedom, literally on the front lines.
Sergeant Alfred Joyce Kilmer left behind a wife and five children. He also left behind a library of poetry that still speaks to us at a time of political turmoil and deep division within a country; a nation that remains the world's last best hope for a cause that Kilmer courageously died for.
One wonders if the poet foresaw the future of Washington's 21st Century political landscape when he penned the poem "The House With Nobody In It." He created a stark picture when he wrote:
"I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black.
I suppose I've passed it a hundred times, but I always stop for a minute
And look at the house, the tragic house, the house with nobody in it."
