I don't think that this has been posted, but it should:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/galloway/story/16478.html
By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY, McClatchy Newspapers
It's that time of year again. Memorial Day weekend is the
beginning of summer fun for most Americans, and as I've done before in
this space, I want to pause to take note of the real reason there is a
Memorial Day.
It's meant to honor and pay our respects to those Americans
who've given their lives in service to our nation, who stand in an
unbroken line from Lexington's rude bridge to Cemetery Ridge to the
Argonne Forest to the beaches of Normandy to the frozen Chosin Reservoir
to the Ia Drang Valley to the sands of Kuwait to the streets of Baghdad.
Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and
Air Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that is
war. Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded and
facing months or years in military hospitals.
This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and former
roommate,Army Lt. Col. Robert Bateman , who recently completed a
yearlong tour of duty in Iraq and is now back at the Pentagon.
Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known ceremony
that fills the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon with cheers,
applause and many tears every Friday morning. It first appeared on May
17 on the Weblog of media critic and pundit Eric Alterman at the Media
Matters for America
Web site.
*************************
"It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the Pentagon. This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the floors
shine, the hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At this instant
the entire length of the corridor is packed with officers, a few sergeants and some civilians all crammed tightly three and four deep
against the walls. There are thousands here.
"This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The
G3 offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All
Army. Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not
have seen each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each other,
cross the way and renew. Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains
down the center. The air conditioning system was not designed for this
press of bodies in this area. The temperature is rising already. Nobody
cares.
"10:36 hours: The clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the
outermost of the five rings of the Pentagon and it is closest to the
entrance to the building. This clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is
applause with a deep emotion behind it as it moves forward in a wave
down the length of the hallway.
"A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of the
soldier in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his presence.
He is the first. He is missing the greater part of one leg, and some of
his wounds are still suppurating. By his age I expect that he is a
private, or perhaps a private first class.
"Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his
gaze and nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago when I
described one of these events, those lining the hallways were somewhat
different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private guilt for
not having shared in the burden ... yet.
"Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in the
wheel-chair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause,
but I think deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The
soldier's chair is pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.
"Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come
more of his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as need
be by a field grade officer.
"11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My hands
hurt, and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my own head.
`My hands hurt.' Christ. Shut up and clap. For twenty-four minutes,
soldier after soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25, 30.
Fifty-three legs come with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or arms, but
down this hall came 30 solid hearts.
"They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then
meet for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor, hosted
by the generals. Some are wheeled along. Some insist upon getting out of
their chairs, to march as best they can with their chin held up, down
this hallway, through this most unique audience. Some are catching
hand-shakes and smiling like a politician at a Fourth of July parade.
More than a couple of them seem amazed and are smiling shyly.
"There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old war-bride
pushing her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not quite understanding
why her husband is so affected by this, the boy she grew up with, now a
man, who had never shed a tear is crying; the older immigrant Latino
parents who have, perhaps more than their wounded mid-20s son, an
appreciation for the emotion given on their son's behalf. No man in that
hallway, walking or clapping, is ashamed by the silent tears on more
than a few cheeks. An Airborne Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see. A couple of
the officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of this
parade in the past.
Has anyone seen this in the MSM?!?!?!
I didn't think so!!
Martin
Linear Mode
