In August we saw the passing of Max Money at the age of 88.
For many of our members Max was the quiet and strong, heart and
soul of our chapter. He was one of the original members when
the Cape Cod Chapter was started in the early 1990's and a
never-wavering part of every one of our projects since then.
Max was truly a man of peace and of faith. He was also a teacher,
an author, a poet, a humanitarian and a quintessential veteran
for peace.
Max served as an Marine Corps infantry platoon leader during
the Korean War and retired as a Lt. Colonel. Among his many
contributions were his numerous Veterans and Memorial Day
essays which were published in Cape Cod newspapers and which
became a regular feature of those holidays. His writings were
always very personal and heartfelt and often focused on the
intimate details of the experience of individual veterans and their
families, including his own. The true costs of war were always clear.
Max also founded and directed our Chapter's annual "Voices of
Peace" Poetry Contest for all ages from kindergarten to adult.
He guided the contest into its 23rd year in the Spring of 2018.
Over 11,000 Cape and Islands poets have participated over the
years in this annual Cape-wide event. Max also co-led a writing
group for veterans at our local Vets Center.
At the Veterans Day ceremony in Barnstable, the largest
veterans holiday event on the Cape (and one with an increasing
emphasis on peace, it seems) Max was honored by one of this year's award winning poets. Kim Berner, Cape Cod writer and poet read her poem "On Returning" in his memory. Our 24th annual contest in 2019 will be dedicated to him and will feature some of his writing.
We will miss Max's quiet clear judgement which was always sought
as part of the chapter's decision-making process and we will try to
insure that his spirit is present as we go on with our work for peace.