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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! November 29, 2004 A Small and Often Tragic WorldBy GreyhawkKeep your Wiley's on for this one. Korea: Back in '89-'91 as the Iron Curtain fell and Saddam Hussein announced for all to hear that a peaceful world was not his cup of tea I was stationed at Yongsan Army installation in Seoul Korea. Like everywhere else I've been stationed or deployed, news from there strikes a bit close to home. When I read the following a couple weeks back I immediately sent an email to the Mrs. YONGSAN GARRISON ? When a student at Seoul American High School last year mentioned she was having a hard time caring about the faraway war in Iraq, Michelle Pell decided to make it matter. Ms Pell is posting the death toll on her door in a school on a military installation, reminding her young students every day that their parents could be the next to go. Since they actually attend High School for reasons other than developing awareness of Iraq and since worrying excessively about their odds of being orphaned could be detrimental to achieving their educational goals I think that her project is unpardonable. Being the parent of students at a Department of Defense Dependents School in Europe I immediately pinged the wife to check with the kids to make sure none of their teachers were engaged in any similar freakish and unforgivable behavior. By the way, the paragraphs quoted above were from a story in Stars and Stripes relating the sad news that a graduate of Seoul American High School had become the first allumnus of that proud institution to loose his life in Iraq. In fact, he was class of '90 - he graduated while I was stationed there. Since I lived in the small family housing area it's likely I saw him from time to time, one of the many young faces I passed in the playground while there with my kids or saw in the PX or the commisary or at the Fourth of July fireworks... There are pictures of the man acompanying the article - high school yearbook photos and more recent shots of a proud young father in uniform holding his child. His face hadn't really changed in those very few years. I didn't recognize him, but he looked like every young American I've ever seen. ?I?ve been waiting for this to hit since the war started,? Pell said while sitting in her empty classroom Wednesday afternoon. ?It just makes me sick." I'll bet she has; I'm sure it does. He must have been the toughest number she ever added to her door. ________________ Iraq: I had the honor of hearing a very high ranking Air Force officer speak here in Iraq recently. He told of presenting Purple Hearts to a couple of Air Force troops who'd been wounded in action while serving with the Army in Fallujah. These young enlisted men were Air support liasons, their mission with the Army was to coordinate close air support, calling in death from above on enemy positions often dangerously close to friendly forces. All this while in the thick of things under enemy fire. One of these individuals left a marked impression on the General, the story he told struck a chord with me too. The young Senior Airman (SrA, USAF E4) accompanied the Company Commander and a small group of soldiers into a house containing some very much alive and hostile enemy forces. The bad guys got the first shots, killed the Captain and dropped another of the GIs there. Without thought for his own safety the SrA grabbed the wounded troop and began pulling him out of the room and to safety, but took a round in the right shoulder for his efforts. Other troops meanwhile joined the fray and finished off the rats' nest. Ultimately the Air Force guy gets a purple heart from a General, who relates the story I'll quote from memory. "He had a wounded right arm, so after pining the medal I shook his left hand. But then he saluted me with his right hand, a move that I could tell caused him great pain." The General choked up a little while telling the tale, and the ever-present dust appeared to be irritating his eyes, too. Should have kept the Wiley's on. ________________
All that info in hand I turned to my trusty research assistant, Google. I still haven't identified that Air Force Airman, but I found blogs run by friends or relatives of the Captain here and here and here. The last site has followup entry here, that includes a message from Cpt Sims' father, himself a retired Colonel: I don?t know what to say or how to describe the sacrifice of your blood for this country. Having served in Vietnam, twice, having a father who spent 36 years as a soldier through two wars, and a brother who served in Vietnam twice and is now 100% disabled from his injuries there, I am encouraged by the awareness of our countrymen for the sacrifices of our children. I am thankful for the realization by our citizenry that freedom is not free. The Colonel doesn't mention it but I realize now that he also served in Korea. I know because in that same blog entry where his words are reproduced I found a picture of this warrior son of a warrior's son, holding his child, the same picture that I first saw in this Stars and Stripes story I first mentioned above, mourning the first Seoul American High School graduate to die fighting in Iraq. A picture of a man now young forever. So much more than number 1,186 on Michelle Pell's door of horror. ________________ Germany, America, Fallujah...
Cpt Sims' unit had an embedded reporter with them in Fallujah, and his account of their lethal run through the heart of the anti-Iraqi insurgency will be told in a six-part series in the Miami Herald, part one of which is here. This is how it begins: After Sims took in the view, soldiers of Alpha Company scrambled to a road overlooking Fallujah. Then sniper fire began and the battle was joined. Some soldiers emptied their M-16 clips, some yelling, others laughing as return fire pinged off the armored Bradley fighting vehicles and pavement around them. The story of the last days of a brief life lived in freedom's cause. Posted by Greyhawk / November 29, 2004 12:52 PM | Permalink 4 TrackBacksRead this. Read More If you don't want to cry.... Read More Greyhawk at the Mudville Gazette has a touching post about the few degrees of separation that exist in the military community and the story of another fallen hero. Read it...I'll wait. My career field was a small world; after basic training, I never... Read More Be sure to check out Kerry's post Telling Error: This is the Wrong Time for the Media to Be in the Wrong Place Read More 13 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
How many countless tales of bravery are we missing? I'm thankful for B5 and other blogs, like yours, that bring us these stories. Back in September Hugh Hewitt posted a short thing about a Mom of a fallen soldier and how hurt she was everytime she heard John Kerry say, 'wrong war' etc. I looked up her name and sent her a letter telling her that I will not forget her son - who died for my freedom. She wrote back to thank me and to tell me that she knows he's a hero - yet he was her only son. Her pain is something I wish I could erase. I wish there was a way for us to touch each family to tell them what it means to us, ordinary Americans. I wish we could do more - but all we can do is support our troops everday. This is my commitment and it will continue as long as there is breath in my body. Thanks for protecting our freedoms. We appreciate and honor your sacrifice and that of your family. I will always honor you all as American heroes, because that is what you are.
I really appreciate your news on Seoul American High School. I graduated from there in 1977, having spend 17 years going through the DOD school system on Yongsan. In the sixties and seventies, we were exposed to little or none of the unrest in the U.S. on Vietnam, having only AFKN and Stars & Stripes as news sources. Most of us ended up on the conservative, perhaps patriotic to a fault, side of things.
SAHS is a special school, with a dedicated, long term faculty. Some are still there from the 1970s. I can't see any of the old timers doing this to dependents whose own fathers or brothers might be part of the death toll. What does it teach to confront them with this on a daily basis?
Being in the next domino over, whenever things heated up in Vietnam, we had curfews, air raid drills, and evacuation drills (which America ended in the 1950s) The faculty had alot of safety responsibilites for the kids as well, if evacuation became necessary when school was in session. It is hurtful to hear that the otherwise excellent education of DOD dependents is being politicized.
I have often wondered if in heaven we will know how others got there.(If I get there) Will I know these men and women who gave their lives so that so many of us could live in freedom? Will I see them and be able tell them all that their sacrifice meant to me?
I'm sure all of our hearts will be full of the knowledge of the selflessness of these soldiers. If we are able to tell them what they meant to us, I am sure the line will be as long as the eye can see. And it will be a good thing we will have an eternity to express the gratitude, because that is how long we will need.
EDDY, TX is just a blink of a town south of Waco on I-35. It is so small it's combined municipal services are called Bruceville-Eddy.
As a young Army 2LT I was on leave headed to see my folks in San Antonio when my front wheel bearing started to seize & I stopped in an old gas station in Eddy (that's not there any longer). The owners wife drove me in to Waco & I got another bearing. They kept the station open till after midnight while I changed it & wouldn't accept any money for the car ride. (I hid a $20 in their tool box). These are the kind of people in Eddy, & to a great extent in most states of the U.S. I see these same traits in today's soldiers. Keep posting Mr. & Mrs. GREYHAWK, these are the stories we need to hear.
Thanks so much for posting about Cpt. Sims. He was a good friend of mine from college and a true hero. It honors his memory to make his great sacrifice, and that of his wife and son, known to as many people as possible. Please pray for his family as they lay him to rest today.
My sincere sympathy to the Sims family. May God grant them peace knowing of his bravery and the gratitude of our nation. I thank God we have such men and women in our armed forces. May God bless you all.
The reason why she posted it is because a girl said "I dont care about the war in Iraq" so she posted it to increase awareness, to the students of SAHS
Hello, I'm a student at SAHS, and I wanted to tell you that your post gave us all a good laugh in class today.
Ms. Pell didn't post the death count on her door to say that our parents might be next. She posted it because a girl had said that she didn't care about the war in Iraq because she was in Korea and it didn't affect her. The count is there to remind us that it -DOES- affect us.
The way you interpreted the toll hadn't even crossed my mind until this blog entry was shared with us. I had always thought of it as a way of reminding us that the war can still have it's effects on us, even if we're in Korea. I'm pretty sure that's how most of the students interpreted it as well.
I'm a student at SAHS, and this post sucks.
Wow. ...you, sir, are a thundering moron.
Have a nice day.
Let me guess, SAHS?
I’d like to address all of Ms Pell’s students.
I admire the fact that you feel compelled to defend your teacher. Greyhawk and I really haven’t had any personal issue with Ms. Pell until she sent her nasty little email to Greyhawk while he was in Iraq. Greyhawk simply stated how he disagreed with her reasoning in placing the death toll on her door and stated his opinion in a post. He never accused her of trying to scare students on purpose; he understood her reasoning but wanted to point out the ramifications that could come from it. Whether her intentions were good or not does not change the fact that unintended distress could have come from it. Could students really concentrate on their studies knowing their parents could be next on the death list? It’s hard enough to concentrate on school without that reminder, just ask my own kids, they know from experience. Greyhawk only had your well being in mind.
So what’s the real issue you have with Greyhawk? That he exercised his right to his opinion? Did it really warrant such a nasty email from Ms Pell, while fighting for his country in Iraq? Nothing like being called a Nazi whiles you’re fighting for the freedom for that person to call you a Nazi. She also threw in the race card for some ungodly reason. Why? She say’s “what a close-minded, blood-thirsty individual you are. You are the type of person who will fight for freedom, all right, as long as it is for the freedom of white, American males.” Excuse me! He never mentioned race. Why would she say this? Please show me on this site where that is exhibited.
Ms Pell seemed to have an issue with the quote at the top of his page, "Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf",. This is a famous quote. Here’s an English assignment for you, guess who wrote it. But beware the answer is tricky.
She called him “a bigot, a sexist, and someone who probably didn’t do very well in school”, well her literary skills speak for themselves in her e-mail and Greyhawk has had over a million visitors who will all vouch that he is far from a bigot and a sexist.
She talks about Greyhawk taking thing out of context, which was never done. He posted word for word her comment from the stars and stripes and linked the stars and stripes article. That makes things hard to take things out of context. And to make sure she was not taken out of context again we posted her ‘support the troops’ e-mail for all the blogosphere to judge for themselves. A copy of this was also sent to her principal and the district superintendent, because it was borderline harassment and very unbecoming of a DODS teacher.
Here’s a challenge? You Game? How about you look around the site and judge with your own mind? And by all means point out anything that ratifies Ms Pell vile assessment of Greyhawk.
While her fundraising for the troops may be commendable her personal attack on a member of those troops is most certainly NOT and I think that is the issue that should be addressed.
I happened to fall upon this website, along with the other site with Ms. Pell's full letter, when I was looking for news of my friend in Iraq.
It made me really sad to see so many people bashing on each other about this whole ordeal.
I really don't know what do say, but I felt like I had to say something. Since the other site does not offer comments or posts, I decided to write it on here.
Ultimately, what I want to say is... our freedom to write and say what we want is protected by our soldiers and others who serve to protect our country.
People burn our flag and slander our government... and it's not by terrorists alone. Some are by US Citizens.
But even then... even when some US Citizens vilify our government and our country, our troops do what they do so that we can do what we do...even it if means we speak wrongly of them.
Too many people in the US take for granted of the freedom we truly have. But oddly enough, this article and blog helps me remember my freedom of speech, along with every US citizen.
I grew up on Yongsan. I lived more than half of my life in Korea. Yes, guards by the gates, weapons, BDUs and hummers on post was definitely a reminder of military presence, but as a teenager of a Military Soldier that is the closest to the battlefield I will ever go. (Thanks to our soldiers protecting us in foreign lands.) Though many of us lived and breathed a Military life style, we also become desensitized of it. Sometimes, the true depth of the military is lost when all we see is our parents come home faithfully every day. Even when war is happening, our parents still return home. That's good enough for us. We sometimes forget that there others out there on the battlefield so that our parents can come home to us.
I know many people think that what Ms. Pell did wasn't right, but it was a wake up call that many SAHSians need at times. Our parents do such a great job at trying to keep things normal, that we forget the expense of what some military personnel have to go through. Even if Ms. Pell has an alternative lesson plan than many conservative US Citizens, she does care for her students and she does her best to help them realize the true depth of freedom. It comes with a price.
Unlike Ms. Pell or Mrs. Greyhawk, I have no talent in writing eloquant letters or comments. I wish I did so I wouldn't feel like I'm stumbling over my words as I write this.
But what I do have is knowledge; I've learned from my DODDS teachers the true value of freedom of expression, especially when they speak their minds.
To all, I commend your comments. Just remember those who help us have that freedom to say what we want to say.