Confident,
proud American soldier:
Kevin and I
attended for only a short time Tuesday but long enough for me to meet David’s
friend, Adam Shuga.
David and Adam and most of the guys who get hurt have something in
common: They have made very great effort
to put themselves in a position where they might be hurt. And they all do not make that effort because
they are competitive or adventurous – they all put themselves at risk because they
are all True Believers.
Sure, they are
competitive and adventurous. Athletic and intelligent too. But mainly, they are motivated by a sense of
service to a worthy goal. Young men like
Adam and David believe some things are worth fighting for and they are willing
to accept the risk. They don’t want to
die but more than that, they want their lives, however short, to make a
difference. David has managed to place
himself in the history books. The
choices he made were courageous and his life, heroic. This magnet refers to David.
That same bike
had a patch taped to the gas tank.
Closer
inspection revealed the how-to-get-there’s.
Kelvin is a scale use for measuring
temperature. Kevin is a scale used for measuring
corn. The corn immediately north of the
funeral home was 2.5 Kevins high.
The visitation
on Tuesday was a time for standing with flags in the sun, smiling and
waiting. There was no procession or
ceremony to impose a somber mood. I had
given Kevin photos of David for the PGRiders to clip
to their vests or bikes and he was happy to have that job.
For the
family, it is a time to adjust to the new reality and prepare themselves for
the funeral the next day. When Kevin was
running cheerfully through the parking lot, I reminded him that some people are
very sad and that we should not be too happy.
Adam had some
trouble as a younger man. He started
Marine basic training, but when his paperwork caught up with him they kicked
him out. He got a job as a firefighter
and is petitioning Governor Blagojevich to change the records for him. He told me that he thinks he will be able to
join the Illinois National Guard and from there be able to transfer into the
regular army. His actions measure his
character. Maybe Adam will be among the
casualties one day. Adam has bigger
things on his mind.
Adam saw Kevin
looking at the ground while returning a salute.
Adam decided to teach Kevin how to salute properly and Kevin was glad to
have the instruction. After we returned home,
my wife gave Kevin a salute. “No, Ma,
you’re doing it wrong….”
~~~
Wednesday was
the funeral. The army carried David into
the church hours before the rest of us arrived.
We would stand in a flagline before the
service and again after the service. We
would ride to the cemetery and stand in a flagline
there.
Adam would
eulogize his friend David during the service.
He was sincere and eloquent and then he returned to his seat. Fortunately I was in the rear of the
sanctuary at the time and had a chance to give him a “well done”. He said nothing.
Earlier, I had
handed-off my flag to him so I could take pictures. Here he is before the service, standing tall
in our flagline.
The day after
David’s funeral another young American from northern
After
two tours and three Purple Hearts in
"He
had volunteered for
Tony, Adam,
David. No mother wants her son in
danger. It is true that if all soldiers
laid down their arms, there would be no war.
But it is also
true that disarming only one side give the other side some significant
advantage. If the good guys unilaterally
disarm, the bad guys run the world.
We did not provoke the attacks on us September 11, 2001.
Nor the al Qaeda bombing of
Nor the Hezbollah bombing of the
Nor the first
Nor the Libyan bombing of the Pan-Am jet over
Nor the bombing of the Beirut Marine barracks by Hezbollah in 1983.
Nor the Iranian hostage seizure at our
embassy in
All those
mothers who did not send their sons to war owe a great debt to the mothers who
did. And we are all fortunate that the
new generations of Americans have the pride and courage to stand up for their
country, their culture and their civilization and do “the first work”.
Kevin did not
return for the David’s funeral, but another David did. The one pictured next is from a
Yes, our enemy
has courage. Like the Kamikaze pilots of
World War II, our terrorist foe learned from a very young age to rationalize
his suicidal hatred. Boys the age of
little David and Kevin attend madrasahs and emerge a
kooky as our friends at
That is the
fallacy of “moral equivalence”: Our boys
go to school and their boys go to school, and therefore there is no difference
between them.
That is so
wrong! There is a world of difference
between teaching hatred and teaching respect.
It is no virtue to pretend otherwise.
The only
reason the rest of us can live peaceful lives is because a very few of us –
just those who are good enough – go out into the world to face evil. They are confident enough to make the moral
judgment and strong enough to do the work.
The fact that
they volunteer does not lessen our debt to them.
Hero David was
one who had both the moral vision and the strength. He enlisted contemplating a single hitch and
then returning to his family having served his country. His service required him to die but before he
did, he sent a lovely poem to his mother.
It was printed
and distributed at his funeral.
That is why we
gathered for this fine soldier and for his mother. We wanted to honor him and thereby honor
her. He made the greatest sacrifice a
soldier can make, and she made the greatest sacrifice a mother can make.
That is the
big picture. We were there to focus on
the heroic sacrifice that this family made for the benefit of the rest of
us. Debbie Crudele
has a good focus on the big picture.
I really don’t
want the Ride Captain to be concerned with my safety or comfort. Those things are not relevant to the
mission. It is so easy to lose the big
picture. The necessity of bottled water
is for hydration – if the flag-holder collapses, the flag hits the ground. A little water at the right time and place
facilitates our mission of respect and honor.
But a Ride
Captain can get all wrapped-up in water service: If water is good, then what about flavored
drinks? The next thing you know, a golf
cart is patrolling up and down the flagline. The two worst-run missions I have experienced
(Upland and Nappanee) were managed by Ride
Captains who thought they were hosting a party.
The guys holding flags always know why they are there and it’s not for a
party.
At COL Ames’
Change-of-Command ceremony, several platoons of Marines in dress uniforms were
to stand in the great heat of the day. I
heard one of the sergeants say, “If you go down, go down hard. I will pick you up later.”
He was saying
that he didn’t want anyone to fall out from the heat. The only excuse he would accept for leaving
the formation was unconsciousness. The
safety and comfort of his Marines was only incidental to his mission.
I don’t think
Debbie had any fun at all. I hope she
had a sense of satisfaction after it was over, but throughout the two days her
sole focus was respect and honor for the soldier and his mother.
The mother
didn’t want media so Debbie embraced that as part of her mission. Here, she and an adjutant chase away a
television reporter.
Her
seriousness of purpose made us all stand a little taller.
Having
received instruction on how to shield the casket and family as they leave the
church from any last-second media, we formed a ring around the church
entrance. There were a few neighbors
waiting across the street. We gave two
of them flags. Bill walked his back
across and joined our flagline.
And thus Bill
changed from PGRider at heart into PGRider de facto.
And this young
woman did her part too. David would
never know how many people appreciate, respect and admire him.
I met David’s
mother at the beginning of the visitation on Tuesday. I made my usual record of the PGR that day
and drove with Kevin back home.
Wednesday, when I returned on the bike, she requested a more personal
record. Inside the church, I got images
of the Rear Detachment Commander eulogizing David and of Adam eulogizing David.
Usually, I
find little opportunity for photography at the cemetery. Most of the important images would contain
the casket, the family or the mourners – so I just hold a flag. This time, I would do more.
Since media
had been discouraged I felt an extra weight of responsibility. I got many good photographs of the casket
being carried by the Honor Guard with the Patriot Guard standing and saluting
in the background. I got the
flag-folding and presentation. I deemed
those images and the eulogies to be private and have sent them to the funeral
home for delivery to David’s mother.
All that said
to say that public images at the cemetery were more feasible for this
mission. After the three rifle volleys
and Taps, there was a fly-over:
Oscar Blomgren deserves great credit for organizing this private
tribute. He recruited the pilot-owners
who circled the cornfields until the timing was right. Then they roared through the rain.
The United
States Army did a great job too – crisp and squared-away. The gentleman on the right below said a very
nice thing to me in the church: Referring
to the PGR, he said that when he must send a KIA soldier back home, he knows he
doesn’t have to worry about the soldier’s care.
CSM Blake has
sent more than a few – 49, I think he said.
He holds a high rank: Think of
Sam Elliott in We Were Soldiers. Elliott was a Sergeant Major but Blake is a
Command Sergeant Major. Not much room
for promotion – next rank is Sergeant Major of the Army and there is only one
of those.
Bikers have
little use for rain. If it doesn’t make
you crash it at least makes you wet. The
sole exception is a soft summer rain. On
days when the sun is blistering, a gentle shower can be pleasant.
But that’s
bikers. I don’t think the rain was
welcomed by David’s family, seated in front of his casket. Those are the circumstances that resulted in
the best image I got that day, though it is among the private ones. In it, CSM Blake stands, right arm parallel
to the ground, elbow locked. In the fist
of this high-ranking, powerful man is the handle of the umbrella that shields
David’s mother.
Major General
is a bit of rank, too. Think of Patton
pushing the Germans back into
The Ranger
salutes David’s casket flag and takes it.
Then SFC Carlson salutes the flag and retires.
And then, the
Ranger turns to David’s mother to present her with this symbol of the values
for which her son died.
From my
front-row seat I had a chance to watch General Radin
closely. First he knelt. Then he offered the flag, one hand on top and
one underneath.
The recipient
naturally places hands above and below, likewise. The General moves his top hand above the
recipients top hand and traps it against the flag. With the recipient seated and the General kneeling, they are eye-to-eye. And with all four hands on the flag, it is
suspended in space as the moment is suspended in time.
The General
then, very softly, says a few private words.
The words are
probably standardized, just as the flag is mere colored fabric. The important thing is that he is saying
them. In this
circumstance. To
her. He is more than a Ranger;
more than a General. He is the
representative of the forces of Western Civilization that has drawn so heavily
on her family for a great purpose.
There are
others who will offer sympathy; that is not his object. He is offering gratitude. A soldier has died, but not because he made a
mistake. Not because anyone made a
mistake. In a sense, he was supposed to
die. When we send these guys into war,
we know some will fall. We don’t know
which ones, but some and for sure.
That’s why it was soldiers we sent.
When they make it safer, the forces of civilization will send the police
or the lawyers or the psychologists. But
the most terrible work – the first work – must be done by soldiers. Let us all be grateful.
And with that,
Major General Radin offered David’s mother an
American flag, neatly folded. Directly
behind the General was the casket that echoes “Freedom is not Free”. To the left
were the assembled mourners, dressed in dark clothes, standing silently. And to the right, standing in a straight line
facing the family, a background for the flag ceremonies, were we.
Photography
for the David
Wednesday, pre-service
Wednesday, Post-service & cemetery
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