Seeing The War Through A Twin Brother's Eyes

Kyle (the author) and Kael Weston, age 3, in Orem, Utah.

Experiencing War Through  Twin -- Kyle Weston, New York Times

Like many Americans, I spent much of the past decade feeling disconnected from our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, distant places conveniently nudged out of mind when unsettling images flickered across the television screen. But I had one very good reason not to feel this way: my identical twin brother, Kael, had spent seven years over there, serving in the State Department as a political adviser attached to Marine infantry units.

Forty-one years ago, we entered the world by near simultaneous birth, Kyle and Kael, 11 pounds, 11 ounces, delivered by steady hands a few minutes apart via C-section. Not quite a blessed event, Mom would say: “Double the pain. Absolutely no fun.”

Growing up in Orem, Utah, Kael and I once were inseparable. Towheaded toddlers, we conversed in a fluent twin talk — gibberish to others, but a language all our own. Our parents referred to us as Pete and Repeat. Everywhere he went, I went; and everywhere I went, he went. Neighborhood excursions were aided by a trusty tricycle as troop transport, The Hot Seat, but with room for one. The odd twin out more often than not, I became the grunt, pushing us along. Kael assumed the role of fearless leader, surveying the terrain ahead from the comfort of his seated vantage point, albeit only a couple feet off the ground.

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My Comment: A moving story .... but the line that caught my attention was the following ....

.... “There’s a difference when a country, but not a nation, goes to war.”

Indeed.