Wednesday, February 24,
2010:
“Columbine
II dwarfs the number of victims from the first Columbine shooting, exceeding
even the Virginia Tech massacre. A
controversy is brewing as a local contractor has offered to erect 47 wooden
crosses on a nearby hill: One for each
of the 46
~~~
You
won’t read that anyplace else, at least not today. 57 year-old David Benke
is the reason you won’t.
“Do
you guys go to this school?”
When
the students said “Yes” the 32 year-old man with the gun shot them. Dr. Benke heard the
firecracker-like sound and started walking toward Mr. Bruco
Strongeagle Eastwood.
Then Mr. Benke saw Mr. Eastwood shoot again.
Those
of us trained from childhood to behave in cowardly ways would not do what Dr. Benke, father of three, then did. He moved aggressively on Mr. Eastwood,
disarmed him and held him to the ground.
He was then joined by another teacher, Mr. Norman Hanne. (As they struggled, Eastwood threatened to
sue Benke and Hanne.)
Then the cops arrived. That
happened yesterday.
Sometimes,
the best response is to ignore the offender and go about your business. In some circumstances it is best to hide and
call 911. But on some rare occasions,
the only correct reaction is to do your best to kick the shit out of another
person. An alarming number of Americans
cannot make that moral distinction.
Yesterday,
a seventh-grade math teacher appointed himself as a violent enforcer of
justice. That is the reason Columbine II
never happened.
~~~
This
afternoon, the body of Josh Birchfield will be
returned to
Josh Birchfield and David Benke were cut from the same cloth. My father and all four of my mother’s
brothers served in our military in time of war.
My step-son,
Most of us are cowards.
Thank God that heroes walk among us.
~~~
Josh was part of the 3rd Battalion of the 4th
Marine Regiment – the 3/4 which is “the Three-Four”. Thanks to DVIDS I can
present some images of what the 3/4 has been doing recently:
Chief
Petty Officer Anthony Geron, hospital corpsman, left,
and Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicholas Becker, hospital corpsman, assigned to
India Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, look
out from a mountain. Marines and sailors patrol the mountain to find caves and
hiding spots used by the Taliban.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Chad Pulliam
Date: 11.25.2009
Posted: 11.30.2009 06:45
Photo ID: 228062
VIRIN: 091125-M-8774P-037
Location: Golestan, AF
Marine
with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, conduct combat operations in Now Zad,
Photo by Lance Cpl. Walter Marino
Date: 12.04.2009
Posted: 12.11.2009 08:04
Photo ID: 230748
VIRIN: 091204-M-3612M-015
Location: Now Zad, AF
Staff
Sgt. Paul V. Cooke, a platoon sergeant with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 4th
Marine Regiment, coordinates for a casualty evacuation following a car accident
that injured seven Afghans and killed two Nov. 2, 2009. The Marines were
providing security for an Afghan national army re-supply
convoy when they were waved down by an Afghan truck driver, who informed them
of a nearby accident. An Afghan family of nine was involved, two of which were
pronounced dead on the scene. Marines, Navy corpsmen and Afghan forces provided
security and treatment for the injured Afghans.
Photo by Staff Sgt. Luis Agostini
Date: 11.02.2009
Posted: 11.04.2009 02:23
Photo ID: 220018
VIRIN: 091102-M-3792A-065
Location: Farah province, AF
Marines
with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, conduct combat operations in Now Zad,
Photo by Lance Cpl. Walter Marino
Date: 12.04.2009
Posted: 12.11.2009 08:17
Photo ID: 230771
VIRIN: 091204-M-3612M-019
Location: Now Zad, AF
A
Marine salutes the memorial stand for Lance Cpl. Cody R. Stanley, a vehicle
commander with Combined Anti-Armor Team, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th
Marine Regiment, during a memorial service for Stanley at Combat Outpost Caferetta, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Nov. 5. Stanley,
a native of
Photo by Cpl. Zachary Nola
Date: 11.08.2009
Posted: 11.08.2009 03:50
Photo ID: 221401
VIRIN: 091108-M-1909N-001
Location: COMBAT OUT-POST CAFERETTA, AF
Thursday,
February 25, 2010:
Yesterday in Westville, snow fell.
Also yesterday a few Marines, a few PGRiders
and a few hundred neighbors welcomed Joshua home.
HeraldArgus photo by Bob Wellinski
What matters?
Bridget
Flynn interviewed the family for the local paper. She must have asked the right questions. We learn what matters to this American family
and what mattered to their son.
Josh
volunteered for military service. He
volunteered for the Marines. He
volunteered for infantry. Why? Because he was an angry
person? Cold
and hard?
Frances Birchfield [his
grandmother] said Joshua was inspired to join the Marines by a TV news segment
about military families who were unable to be together during a holiday due to
military service. He, as a single person, felt he should join the military
after seeing that segment, she said.
What a fine, young patriot. And what a
magnificent example of the type of citizen we send out to face our enemies on
the battlefield. Loyalty, courage,
sacrifice: But how did he internalize
heroic values? He learned the virtue of
service from his family.
Hacker [his mother] said the night before
Joshua’s death, he asked her on the phone whether an
uncle that he was close to was proud of him. When she responded that everybody
was proud of him, he responded, “That’s all that matters,” she said.
Its
better guidance than the Golden Rule – live your life so that good people are
proud of what you do. “That’s all that
matters.”
Saturday,
February 27, 2010:
Kevin and I left early and quietly. We were on the road by 0500 without having
awakened his mom or my wife. We traveled
parallel to the Lake Michigan shoreline southward into
We followed I-90 across the state line and on to Mile Marker 22 where
we found a Hardee’s on the eastbound side of the road
and had breakfast.
On to Mile Marker 39 and then south on
US 421 to Westville, population 2,000. Indiana Route 2 runs east and west through
town.
So it is a close-knit community.
Chief Blackhawk’s war party
crossed the
Americans have always been warriors. We name our most fearsome weapons for our
most fearsome enemies. The Blackhawk
helicopter is one example.
The
I met this fine Marine in the gym.
He was Joshua’s friend. He would
later eulogize his friend with such power that the gym would erupt in applause.
This woman was a friend to Josh and so was her daughter, seen in
the photo with her arm around Josh.
I went back outside where I had left Kevin with the local PGRiders. He is very
comfortable among them, and even though these were mostly new faces to us, we
knew some of them. Tailgunner
attended the Derwin Wiliams
funeral mission and demonstrated to the Illinois PGRiders
how to salute with a flag
Indiana-style.
If you are seven years old and there is some snow around, it is
easy to make friends. Kevin hurled a
snowball at Tailgunner.
Snowballs and smiles – but we were silently counting the minutes
until Joshua would arrive at door seven of the school.
When the time grew short, Senior Ride Captain Dennis Francis gathered
us. SRC Francis, and therefore north
central Indiana, is blessed with clear vision and decisive leadership.
Of course, if it’s done right, it’s just a matter of taking us
where we want to be led.
We took our flags and then we took our places. The family arrived in several cars and walked
past our display. Kevin opened the door
to the school for them.
Doors 6 and 7 are located at two corners of the gym and both open
to a small parking area. That area is
wrapped on two other sides by the building which makes it echo. The slightest sounds are magnified. Seemingly, the silence was magnified too.
The two Patriot Guard bikes that escorted Joshua from the funeral
home filled the air with a reassuring, confident rumble. A detail of Marines carried him into the
building.
We continued to stand until the service began. Most of us moved inside to sit and
listen. Kevin and I stood just inside
the door. The podium was on the stage
where speakers were seated, facing the audience. Below the podium, between the stage and the population
of Westville, was the casket. One motionless
Marine stood at the head and one at the foot.
Two other Marines marched in together, then stopped, then
turned. They executed a slow salute to
the flag-draped casket. And then, with
the robotic precision that characterizes military drill, they relieved the two
guards. After a while, they would be
relieved in that same fashion by another two Marines.
That interaction, contrasted with the rigid image of Marines standing
at attention, provided comfort. But the
really compelling circumstance was this:
During three such exchanges, by coincidence, the speaker at the
podium finished his comments. The
following speaker remained seated until the changing of the guards had
completed. Three times the population of
Westville did not cough, did not sniffle – heard every footstep, every ruffle
of the Marines’ uniforms. Three times.
Then it was time to go.
I imagine the guests left the building by different doors because
we were the only ones in that small parking lot. The Honor Guard carried their comrade out to
the hearse that was waiting between doors 6 and 7, surrounded by PGRiders silently holding Old Glory.
And then we moved in procession three miles to
In addition to the Honor Guard, the Color Guard would serve the
funeral at the cemetery. The American
Flag and the flag of the Marine Corps were held by two bearers, flanked by two
riflemen. Joshua didn’t die in a traffic
accident.
A third detail was standing in the background, their dark uniforms
contrasting with the falling snow.
A Gunnery Sergeant holding a sword and seven riflemen (six male
riflemen, one female rifleman) holding M16A4s.
The correct use of the sword is prescribed in the 28 pages of Chapter
Five of the Marine Corps Drill and Ceremonies Manual, aka Commandant’s Order
P5060.20
But how does the Gunny know when?
Ever wonder?
Top explains that a PGR flag will be hoisted at the moment the
volleys are to be fired. This time, that’s
how.
When the time came, the signal flag was raised above all others.
What a perfect signal.
Three volleys.
Taps and a final salute.
Usually, I don’t take many photos at the cemetery. This time I did not hold a flag and I stayed
on outside so I would not be seen as I recorded the collection of snow in hair.
Kevin did his job in the front line. I was glad that Judy was with him.
And then the Marines marched out.
First the Color Guard.
And then the others.
They do funeral duty so well that we forget that they can change
their clothes in minutes. They can
return to
We remained in that snowy cemetery with Joshua.
Sometimes we are asked to leave so the family can be alone at the
grave. This time the family could leave
and know that Joshua would not be alone at the grave.
Kevin and I left before most of the other PGRiders. Looking back, I saw that the signal flag was
still held high. After all, why would it
be lowered?
Kevin and I walked in silence to the car and then drove in silence
to the
Then, in a military cadence, I heard, “Cheese-burgers for lunch!”
“Cheese-burgers for lunch!”
“Cheese-burgers for lunch!”
So I joined him and together we chanted: “Cheese-burgers for lunch!”
“Cheese-burgers for lunch!”
So we stopped again at Mile Marker 22, this time for the
west-bound Hardee’s.
After lunch he fell asleep and slept the rest of the way home.
photos 870-899
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