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John Coggeshall 11/7/09   Laurencot **__ Jack __** I remember the day like it was yesterday- the day my son Jack was born. As a baby, he was all a father could ask for. He was always trying to impress my wife and me, saying gibberish words and trying to stand even walk without toppling over. He did achieve speech and walking at quite a young age, both at about 15 months. Enter his toddler years. He was an inquisitive toddler, always asking me for one thing and my wife for another. However, he never took no as an answer. If I said no to one thing, he would ask my wife instead or vice versa, until he got a yes. When we both said no, he would importunately nag both of us. But, we were quite complaisant when it came to his wants, which might not have been a good or bad thing; both my wife and I had to make compromises of our own so he didn’t drain every cent from him. At three, we sent him to a preschool with a good reputation of other parents. He was the delight of the preschool teacher. She said that he had “evil plots” that amused everyone, all for innocent fun. Of course, he wasn’t a perfect toddler. According to the parents, some of the preschool kids said he was sometimes a little bossy, and wanted to lead everything, to be in control. It was a normal toddler thing, and it never got to the point of him being mean. Before we knew it, we were sending him off to elementary school. His teacher always noticed he was eager to make new friends. He was always the one his friends looked up to, a role model. Academically, he passed every subject with flying colors. He especially loved to learn about history and leaders throughout history. In the third grade, he joined a leadership council. By fifth grade, he was the president of the council, “one of the best leaders the council has seen” according to the adult coordinator. But, he did get in trouble a few times for name-calling; mostly to the ones different from him. A few of his friends said he had an odd perception of people different than the majority. Some of the ones he perceived differently even said he was a bit of a bully. We sent him to a private Christian boys’ boarding school for sixth grade, where they were eager to take him even with the fact that he has had a few troubles with name-calling. He found new friends that were not as nice to others. We were a little worried, but we wanted him to be able to choose his own friends. But, 6th grade was the dawn of WWII. After he just turned 12 and was in the seventh grade, we saw the news one day. A town that was near the town the school he was in was bombed. We were shocked. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the shock of the day. When I got home from work, I opened a telegram addressed to us. It was a military telegram, which seemed peculiar to my wife and me. It changed our lives. Our son was being evacuated out of the country after the bombing, as England was becoming more and more war-torn. There was nothing we could do, the military forced it. A week later, uniformed guards showed up at our door. They informed us that the plane that Jack was on was shot down by Axis fighter planes. They told us that Allied ground, sea and air units have not located the plane and do not know of any survivors. Shocked and confused, we kept our eyes on the news and telegrams. Nothing happened until one late night. There was a peculiar knock on the door in the early morning hours. Two English naval officers were standing outside. One said “Mr. and Mrs. Merridew, we are here to inform you that we have found the crash site of the plane your son was in and that he survived.” As he kept telling us details of the crash and the other survivors, the one next to him started speaking. “We are happy that your son is alive, but there is also some bad news: he might not be coming back home soon. According to the officer that found him, he was allegedly involved in the torture of a six year old child and the killings of two children. The boy the officer first talked to even said he lead his own group of savages, but that claim cannot be proven. The police are debating on what should happen with your son and another boy involved named Roger.” After we learned this news, we had to face the truth that he might never come back home. We predict that he will be put in a facility for juvenile criminals, but we hope that whatever happens is the best for him and that we can cope with the loss of our son in our everyday life.