The Hard Road of Dreams

This past Sunday was both Memorial Day Sunday and Ascension Sunday. In order to tie the two concepts together, I highlighted a very important book about which I want to tell you more. It is written by a local Dayton resident, Robert B. Kahn. In this "Expanded Autobiography," entitled, The Hard Road of Dreams: REMEMBERING NOT TO FORGET. It is published by Braughler Books and should be somewhat widely available.

The Hard Road of Dreams is the all-too-true account of an American hero who, as a Jew, suffered through Nazi persecution, and would-be extermination, in Germany and Luxembourg. Mr. Kahn and his family escaped to America in a haunting tale of peril and courage. After arriving in America, Robert Kahn fought for America in WWII, not in the European Theater where he wanted to serve but in New Guinea. After the war, and following his faithful military service, Mr. Kahn continued to work for the Air Force as a strategic planning specialist and consultant. It is in this capacity that he came to Dayton, Ohio.

The Hard Road of Dreams is an important read. I recommend it to everyone who reads The Shiloh Insider. A warning, however. This is a mature work, and a dense one. It is fraught with emotions and connections that carry the reader deeply into one's own experiences, and far beyond them, where we are invited into the experiences of others. Imagine, through no fault of your own, watching the authorities of your own country ransack your home, claiming your property and your bank accounts, throwing your belongings onto your front yard and burning them in a giant bonfire. Imagine your neighbors and fellow citizens cheering and chanting hateful slogans, spitting at you and your family, closing you off from any assistance or hope of recrimination. Imagine the fear of having to leave your country of origin for unknown territories, simply to escape the unreasonable and unfair discrimination of your own homeland. Imagine learning of the extermination of 6,000,000 of your countrymen, women and children who are slain simple for the religion that they practice.

Robert Kahn's is the kind of heroic story that we can all honor and respect. It is a story of sacrifice, courage, desperation and hopelessness, combined with a resilience and determination that defies reason. In the cause of full disclosure, I must acknowledge that I had met Robert and Gert Kahn, and appreciated them, well before my reading of The Hard Road of Dreams. Reading the book has simply extended my impression of them to heroic levels.

I have read thousands of books in my life. Few have touched and affected me like The Hard Road of Dreams. I fully and energetically recommend it to each of you. By the way, Bob and Gert were with us at our 10:25 service of worship this past Sunday. If you were not with us, and the majority of you were not, you missed the opportunity to greet them. It was a distinct honor for me to have them with us. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Kahn. You are among my heroes!