In Memoriam Fratres Mei
I have heard a lot of folks, mainly veterans, families of veterans, families of fallen, and a lot of other good people making comments and postings on the meaning of Memorial Day. Many times admonishing the great majority of Americans for their failure to comprehend what this holiday is really about.
I understand this, I deeply understand this, because although by the grace of God I haven’t lost anyone in my immediate family, the last ten years have been very difficult on my surrogate family, The Marine Corps Bomb Disposal Community. I share this sense of loss.
It can be frustrating to know in your heart that the vast majority of Americans would have a challenging time finding Afghanistan or Iraq on a map or know where Al Anbar or Helmand are or even what they are. Let alone truly understanding what went on in those places and what that meant to so many people.
To those families I would say, don’t be saddened or beleaguered by the blissful ignorance of others. Seek strength and resolve in it. Your loved ones, selfless and immensely brave, knew and understood and still chose to push forward into the fray, to stand side by side with their brothers and sisters and bestow the greatest gift a young man or woman can give to the American people ……their courage.
This time last year, I went down to EOD School in Ft Walton Beach FL to attend the annual EOD Memorial ceremony where the names of those that were lost this past year are inscribed on a large monolithic stone along with the names of the many heroes who passed away over the years, killed in the performance of their duties.
Needless to say the list of names has grown exponentially over the last decade.
I was there to help place the name of one of my young Marines on that stone.
If I never have to do that again it will still be too soon.
It was a sobering experience, as it is each time I go, not just because the name of a young man who I knew and worked closely with was included on the wall, but because a very large number of young Bomb Technicians who have survived the most serious of injuries also attended to pay their respects.
I will never get comfortable looking into the faces of those families who have lost their sons, husbands and brothers. I will never know whether I was saying the right things or if I was being strong enough for them or if my simple presence caused them pain and unhappiness.
I now realize that no matter how each branch of service may try, with casualty assistance manuals, orders, directives and training that we receive, there will never be any sort of normal response to these things. We may in fact unintentionally cause pain to others by our mere presence, and while meaning to do well we may somehow impose ourselves.
All we can do is be there if we are needed and always speak from the heart. Even if it feels uncomfortable.
If there is never another reason for me to see a bereaved family ever again in my career I will be perfectly content.
Each of our young Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen that has passed away was brilliantly special in their own way, each made life better for others around them, and made us better people for having known them. I could spend hours discussing each that I knew, their unique sense of humor, their personal quirks and idiosyncrasies …. their loves and hates … their selflessness … their heroism.
To the families of those that have lost, I say don’t be angered by what may seem like the willful ignorance of others. As we all well know life is devastatingly short. If people take the opportunity presented to them by Memorial Day to gather and share with one another than that is a good thing. Even if they haven’t the first real clue about why they are getting together, and that chance to enjoy each other is provided to them by young people who have given their lives and others who try day in and day out to adjust to an existence without those they cared about most.
I would ask the people of this nation to jump at the chance to bring in the summer this Monday. Bathe in the sunshine and shower each other with much love, camaraderie and good feelings. But as you reach into that cooler to grab that ice-cold beverage, or methodically adjust that perfectly cooked burger with just the right amount of condiment to make it even more perfect. Or even if you just choose to relax and do nothing except watch the Twilight Zone Marathon on TV, take just a few seconds. Not very long, just a little time and direct your thoughts and maybe a moment or two of silence to those young men and women who demonstrated so much intestinal fortitude and left all that they love behind to stand up for something they believe in and to shroud the rest of us in the warm blanket we call life at home.
Have a great Memorial Day
Just me talking
MGunns
A Maniac in Khandahar
So this 38 year old US Army SSgt decides to leave his FOB and go door to door murdering innocents, seeming to fixate largely on women and children. What in the name of God can be said about that? For obvious reasons the threat level here has increased, and why wouldn’t it? We should be concerned, because if I were an Afghan I’d be pissed off too. What kind of animal does this? I really don’t care about his signs of depression, what was going on in his home life, if his Dad was mean to him or if his Momma didnt hug him enough. Who gives a damn? What he did was an act of barbarism and he deserves to pay … quite possibly with his life.
I will make this statement. The Afghan seemed a lot more pissed off about the burning of the Quran than about the murder of innocent civillians, but hey that may be a cultural thing, and a subject better dicussed at a later time.
Anybody who tries to come out and make an issue with the amount of attention the media is directing to this tragedy needs to keep quiet. Again this was an act of barbarism, it deserves all the attention it’s getting, regardless of how the media has fallen short in the past.
I work around Afghans every day. Most are good people, just trying to make a living, feed their families and enjoy a little of the good life or at least see what it looks like. But I see the looks of distrust going both ways between myself and people I make an effort to interact with every day, and do the same to me. I want to grab them and shake them and shout .. this is not me … not us .. Americans cherish women and children…a true warrior would never in a million years intentionally hurt a woman or a child … we defend those who aren’t able to defend themselves .. it’s who we are…. it’s what we do. But at the end of the day .. the most important people in someone’s life, someone’s wife … someone’s kids .. are gone, and are never coming back, and it was one crazy Soldier who was responsible
What most don’t realize is how much hard work, has gone into building a rapport with the Afghan over the years, how much has been sacrificed by so many. Now it very well may be set back years.
I hope they turn him over to the Afghan for justice. There is no ACLU here.
As I have mentioned before I work with a very unique bunch of Marines. These Marines are carefully and properly selected for a variety of traits, both physical and psychological. They are all physically strong, each of them can strap on a ruck and go all day long if necessary. But as important, they are very resilient … mentally. These men can go into an austere and hazardous environment for a long period of time. Largely isolated from anyone other than their team mates, the locals and the bad guys. Very often with no real light at the end of the proverbial tunnel … and still function effectively … every day. Brilliance at the basics, every time ..all the time … every day. This simple fact is what places men like these apart from the rest.
The right people, the right time, the right place.
Not everyone packs the gear to do this …. clearly.
Trying to mass produce people to operate in the manner in which they are not suited has never and will never work.
Political decision making that places a group of people in a position to try to accomplish a mission that they weren’t trained for and aren’t capable of accomplishing doesn’t work either.
This soldier’s murderous rampage was a sad tragic event, that brings shame to all of us who chose the Profession of Arms.
But as per the norm, we will recover, as we always do. After a momentary pause we will continue to lean forward. We will extend our hands generously to those that embrace peace, and love. We will work tirelessly and methodically to bring about the demise of those who choose to embrace fear, and terror and impose their ill will on those who are unable to protect themselves.
It’s who we are … it’s what we do.
Just me talking.
MGunns
Things I assumed to be true
I was raised in New York in the son of very Liberal parents. My father, educated at Harvard, my mother without a concern for her personal safety, the dogs or the marauding gangs of klansman marched in Birmingham, and Selma AL in the early 60’s. My oldest brother is currently on the staff at UC Berkeley, and has been published several times. My next brother also an educator, and a writer. So you begin to see how my views in life may have been shaped as I grew into adolescence. When I was a small child, Nixon was on the verge of impeachment, Viet Nam was still fresh in everybody’s mind, and there was a tangible distrust of the government across the board.
One of the things my parents always taught me, and I naturally grew to assume that this was part of being a true Liberal, was tolerance. Tolerance for race, creed, political opinions, personal opinions whatever. I may not agree with everybody but damn it this was America, we were a free people, and everyone has rights. We do hold these truths to be self evident.
Now it took me growing up, joining the Marine Corps, travelling to a few dozen places to include a few different combat zones, to see that not everybody thinks like we do. Some of the things that I took for granted just weren’t the case all across the globe. Not everybody can just get up and publically make any political statement they want to without a good possibility of reprisal. In a lot of countries, people are told to shut the “F” up and do what they are told or someone may show up in their homes that night and do harm to them and their loved ones. In other words people, there is alot of brutality in the world. Backpacking through France and Spain and cruising the Euro-rail on summer break does not open your eyes to this, and doesn’t mean you’re necessarily well travelled and a citizen of the globe. These are the things that I would have never had any visibility into in my world growing up. Like everybody else I knew, I just figured the establishment was all bad. This realization began to endear me to my government, our constitution … our way of life. Perhaps I was becoming a bit more conservative.
I also came to realize that from a social perspective, there are untold numbers in this country that have spent generations in receipt of some form of welfare. That this wasn’t the intent for these types of programs, and to continue in the current fashion spends unimaginable amounts of money, the majority of which is sustained by the working class. Maybe some things need to be looked at in detail and restructured, again maybe I am becoming more Conservative.
I also know that war sometimes happens. It is very dark and destructive. It is a time when people can demonstrate the worst in humanity … but also the very best. We were attacked flat out. It really doesn’t get any more simple than that. We had to respond. How some of my own friends back east can protest the war when they themselves spent days sucking down the dust that covered the city back in September of 01 baffles me to this day. Maybe someone actually needs to breach our shores and come into their homes before they feel the need to do something about it. I think I am becoming more Conservative.
Back to tolerance. There are serious problems that we all face today. There is no time for partisanship. We must have answers. All of the vitriol and all of the rhetoric alone between the people of this country … and the political machine is inhibiting our progress. The powers that be need to take a break from the plethora of agendas they all have, quit pandering to whoever has the deepest pockets, and address the issues we all have to contend with. We must have dialogue, we must listen to one another. We have to curtail the poison that spews forth from the mouths of both our people and our politicians. In other words we must be tolerant of each other, and communicate with one another. Its how problems get solved.
Just me talking here
Mgunns sends
Recent Marine Video in AFG
My opinion on the recent video of Marines urinating on suspected dead Taliban: First off, there is going to be a very detailed investigation into the video to determine whether it is bonefide, God knows that everything can be photoshopped these days, so as it stands everything is still only alledged.
Second, who was the jack ass who decided to utilize a video camera and then post it to YouTube. The bottom line is this: If that video is in fact determined to be valid then those Marines are accountable for what they did, because no Marine is ever taught to piss on a dead body, enemy or not. Nothing in those alleged actions is consistant with our ethos or what we have ever known to be true as Marines. There is way too much good in whats being done in AFG to let it be invalidated by the actions of a few. What’s more, the Corps will likely seek out the careers of the Officers in charge of those Marines most likely on up to the Batallion Commander level. Which in my opinion is wrong. This is a SNCO issue. Those Marines had a SSgt or a Gunny, maybe even a MSgt, that had day to day contact with those Jarheads. He should have ensured that his boys understood the far reaching implications of what their actions could potentially bring about, and how even the the smallest violation of the LOAC can marginalize years of progress in an insurgent war. In combat, when the time comes, you try to kill everything you see, but we must retain the moral high ground especially in a war where we are trying to convince people that we are in fact the good guys. Just me talking here.
MGunns
mgunns 