A few years ago a large group of Vietnam veterans met in New York to commemorate the Vietnam War and its effects on their lives. Many were still suffering emotional wounds from that devastating conflict. A Vietnamese Buddhist monk came to the gathering and told a moving story.

During the war, a young Vietnamese woman was killed. She left behind her husband and her young son. The husband, needing to provide for himself and the boy, traveled far and wide looking for odd jobs. Often he left the child with neighbors. After one long trip looking for work, the man returned to find his village demolished and his neighbors gone. Searching through the rubble, he found scattered about some small bones. He was sure that these were the remains of his beloved son. He wrapped the bones in cloth and car…