BEST OF 2009 BLOG CHALLENGE: Best "Article"

December 3 Article. What's an article that you read that blew you away? That you shared with all your friends. That you Delicious'd and referenced throughout the year?

I read a truly amazing article this year. I just can't remember what it was. So I'm veering from the prompt to blog about the best unpublished memoir I read!

It was written by an octogenarian about his service to his country during WWII. At the time, he was a 23 year old Quaker whose conscience wouldn't allow him to kill. So he served by caring for mental patients under trying and even life threatening circumstances.

A few quotes from this gentleman's memoir:

• "Not one word of what I write is for the purpose of having a laugh at crazy men. They are the memories of my experiences with my friends and acquaintances. Many of the accounts are rather physical, but they are nothing compared to the violence and rancor of much of our times in the outside "sane" world."

• "I remember my fellows clearly over all these years, while most of my other contacts have faded, because we were involved in very personal, stressful and satisfying events together."

• "Everyone should have some experience working in a mental hospital."
  

What blows me away about this memoir is the deep respect this gentleman has for the men who were in his care. I hope this spirit comes through in my work-in-progress.