I grew up in a military household – and I spent several years studying for the priesthood. Those experiences taught me the value of patriotism, and the beauty of religious faith. But the reality is that it is not always easy to love one’s country – or to hold on to the hope that is part of faith – when times are bad.

This is a remarkable case of how one man has expressed both of these in the midst of terrible tragedy that took away his entire family in an instant.

One day after an F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet fell from the sky and crashed into his two-story house in San Diego's University City neighborhood, Dong Yun Yoon returned to a home and life in ruins.

Rescue workers sifting through the debris on Cather Avenue had found the bodies of his wife, two baby daughters and mother-in-law.

* * *

"I believe my wife and two babies and mother-in-law are in heaven with God," Yoon said at a news conference afterward. "Nobody expected such a horrible thing to happen, especially right here, our house."

Yoon said he bore no ill will toward the Marine Corps pilot who ejected safely before the jet plunged into the neighborhood two miles west of the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. "I pray for him not to suffer for this action," Yoon said. "I know he's one of our treasures for our country."

First, let me offer my deepest condolences to Mr. Yoon on this grievous loss. To lose one’s entire family in an accident that appears to caused by mechanical failure would seem to be enough to rock his love of country and faith in God – but it has not.

The unswerving faith that there is a life beyond this one, and that hs family has been brought into the presence of the divine is an inspiration.

The words of love and concern for a pilot who managed to escape his crashing plane exemplify the concern that each of us is called to show at all times – but that many of us fail to show under much less severe stress.

And the patriotic sentiment – that our servicemen and women are, indeed, our nation’s treasurs – is one which he could have overlooked in his hour of mourning without a word of reproach from anyone. And yet he stopped to include this acknowledgement, even though it was the crash of a military jet that tore his loved ones away from him. It takes a special sort of patriot to do something like that – one who loves his country when it is hard, not merely when it is easy.

And so I salute Dong Yun Yoon – a man whose example as a patriot and a man of faith we should all strive to follow.

Malkin provides contact information for those wishing to offer their sympathies to Dong Yun Yoon.

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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