I pride myself on having an open mind. I have faith in psychics. I accept that there’s probably life on other planets. I might even be persuaded to believe in crystals and quantum mechanics. But when it comes to ghosts, let’s just say my skepticism was alive and well… then I had a firsthand experience. I saw a soldier who had never made it home from the war, at least in life.
I had recently moved into a bungalow in an older section of Hollywood, CA. It was a neat little clapboard two-bedroom on a quiet residential street. The place came with the usual Tinseltown hokum: Charlie Chaplin slept there, the Fresh Prince had rented it, etc. What mattered most was that it had a driveway. This was important for two reasons: No more dawn bathrobe dashes to beat the weekly street sweeper ticket, and, more metaphysically, the driveway was where I saw my first ghost.
I took special care backing out the first few mornings, as I was still used to parallel parking. I looked right, left, and right again. My head turned as far to the right as it would go. Out of the very corner of my eye, I saw a soldier walking down the sidewalk in my direction. I was too busy with what I was doing to take any notice. I pulled out and took off down the street, thinking about work.
Only seconds passed before I felt overwhelmed by a feeling of sadness. Then I realized that I was homesick for no reason at all. I grew up here, and my folks were alive and well, a few miles away. Homesick? Why?
Abruptly, the image of the solider returned to my mind, even stronger now. There was something odd. His uniform was woolen and hand-stitched, I realized, and the badges on his sleeves were not modern, but rather like the ones I had seen in old war movies with John Wayne or Frank Sinatra. And he moved with the military bearing of that era. In that split-second, in the corner of my eye, I had seen a ghost on a sunny morning in LA. I had peered into another dimension. I knew it, I felt it, it was so real – not frightening or disconcerting, but enlightening.
The more I pondered him, the sharper my vision of his consciousness became, almost as if I could dial into him by thinking of him. It was effortless. He had been killed in action in WWII, and he was trying to go home, but he couldn’t, and he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t. This was his neighborhood, where he had had a tree house, his first kiss, the USO dance where he fell in love with the nurse before shipping out, where his mother had secreted a tin of cookies in his duffle. Where he felt afraid, but refused to show it on that morning he left to go to war, when his father’s eyes were shining with pride for a son who would never return.
I thought about that famous line from a speech by General Douglas MacArthur that now seemed so painfully true: “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.”
Let us pray for peace this Memorial Day.
17 thoughts on “What Are Ghosts Trying to Tell Us?”
I have had many encounters with ghosts. I feel these entities that are still earthbound are either confused why they can”t cross over and others simply do not know they have passed away. Being intuitive and also not being afraid of ‘most”ghosts is what gives me the courage to help . I was brought up to not fear ghosts for they can’t hurt us.
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To all the men and women who have given there lives GOD BLESS them ALL… and to my lil boy who is still over there fighting this war, to return home on July 17th 2010 I love you Nick, and we miss you very deeply… I pray every day for your safe return home.
Love Mom
Amazing story, and you are conveying what many others have experienced, but won`t say anything about it.I believe everyone has a supernatural experience, but do not realize it at the time.I have had several experiences.Its an honor to have the chance to see a ghost or any other extraordinary happenings.Makes life really great, and nothing to fear from a ghost.The fact that you could actually tune in to this being is about as good as it gets, and thank you for the article. Deanne Costello
sounds like you made this story up for Memorial Day-it STILL made me cry–
I believe in Ghost and after each dream comes someone asking for my help…..I always say I have connections with those who have gone before us and may i add even those who are about to leave us. Many of my relatives who were ill and before they die, I always dreamed about another realatives who have died coming to pick up a relative who is very sick and later on I will receive a news about him or her being gone!
When i was a little girl I always pray for the many souls in purgatory and ask for their help in many ways; somehow they in turn had always come to my aid!!!!
I too have had experiences with souls in the other dimension. The day my sister passed, I went home to rest, turned the TV on low, watched for a little while, then fell fast asleep. Music woke me that was so loud it hurt my ears. Apparently, my TV volume had gone all the way up, my Bose speakers were on full blast. All I could think of was to turn everything off immediately. Perhaps my electricity had gone off and when it was surged back on my TV and Bose speakers were turned on with full volume. Being a still sleepy, I looked at my clock; whenever the electricity goes off, the clock is reset to 12 AM; the clock displayed the correct time. Then I checked my computer, the conection was still on. I realized then that there was no way the electricity had gone out, furthermore, in order to turn on the Bose speakers I would have had to open a door and click on various buttons. The door was closed. Then I felt my sister’s presence. I knew immediately it was her because of the way she woke me up, it was her style. Also without ever saying a word we had a mental conversation some of which she revealed information that only I knew about, no one else had been privy to. For 2 or 3 days she kept returning; she had legitimate concerns that she wanted to make sure I would take care of. It was a wonderful experience for me being able to converrse with her from the other dimension. When she felt satisfied that I would do my best to take care of her concerns she vanished. I’ve had experiences where I know someone, usually my Father contacted me from the other dimension; however it was always in a dream. Since the experience with my sister, I have had other spiritual contacts. I believe when a person reaches a higher level of spirituality, they emit a higher level of frequency or energy that reaches beyond our world as we know it. I have mentioned this experience to two friends only. The not-so-spiritual friend laughed; the highly spiritual one knew exactly what had happened and why.
Namaste,
Gabriella Angellica
Aw come on. In the matter of seconds you were able to see that the uniform was not of this era. You were driving away and this out of the corner of your eye. Your imagination is working overtime.
I hope that ghost can rest in peace!
Living in a village in, Suffolk England,my partner and I often are aware of a presence,sometimes its just a word, and sometimes its a sighting The local village church is 1000 years old,and maybe longer..The cottage we live in was on Holy ground at one point,this was a site of a turbulent past,,Im Welsh [a celt] so we somtimes pick things up from the air, but twice I have heard my name in whispers, while in the cottage,the last being yeserday..Our dog ran in the woods,Sue went with a neibough to find her, they both saw a vision of an old man on the nearby farm..but realized it was a ghost,the neibough seeing the same,,we found out a few days later, that a man had died after a horse had kicked him on this spot..
I have often broken down in tears in this house and I dont know why..but its an ancient part of the world, where Saxon ,ancient Brits,and normans came to make their Mark..But I do feel that there is a life going on around us that we cant see, just feel..
One morning,we heard the front door open and close,footsteps on the staires, and Our 5 dogs,,barking and getting excited,at what we thought was someone we would have known,I got out of bed to investigate only to find the dogs running around in circles,all happy,but no one there,,We know this ghost is there to calm us down in times of need, as he always appears at a time when our lives are in turmoil, as we all are at the moment..we feel happy about our visitor,,he came with the land,and the home..he is a lost soul,but I hope that while he maybe lost,he is welcome..
There are ghosts apparently but we cannot hear them – They opperate in a different sound zone according to electronic technology, like ultraviolet rays and Xrays.
Hi Drew, thank you for sharing your interesting story. I am very interested in knowing how one can help the ghost so that he rest in peace.I would love to hear someone’s response.
lol
Liliek
Wonderful, wonderful story, Drew~! The details bring the reader right into the situation. And your assessment was great~! Ghosts are not scary, they are merely in another dimension which reveals itself occasionally to those who are “open” to it~!
Much luv & lite~!
Ariel
Your encounter gave me goosebumps, but I could also feel the ‘pride’ of everyone who knew him. Wow! Wonderfully written, Drew!
Very nice story, Drew. Thank you for sharing. Your story reminds of my father (and I have such sweet memories of him) who told us stories of his days in the war many, many times.