Common Folk Using Common Sense

Trackbacked at Blue Star Chronicles, Michelle Malkin, basil’s blog, A Blog For All, Sister Toldjah, Blue Crab Boulevard, CommonSenseAmerica, Flopping Aces:

A Proclamation:

Through the generations, America’s men and women in uniform have defeated tyrants, liberated continents, and set a standard of courage and idealism for the entire world. On Veterans Day, our Nation pays tribute to those who have proudly served in our Armed Forces.

To protect the Nation they love, our veterans stepped forward when America needed them most. In conflicts around the world, their sacrifice and resolve helped destroy the enemies of freedom and saved millions from oppression. In answering history’s call with honor, decency, and resolve, our veterans have shown the power of liberty and earned the respect and admiration of a grateful Nation.

All of America’s veterans have placed our Nation’s security before their own lives, creating a debt that we can never fully repay. Our veterans represent the best of America, and they deserve the best America can give them.

President George W. Bush
October 31, 2006

World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 , in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles , France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918 , is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday – - a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.” Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

But today I want to honor a single veteran: my son Stephen.

In high school Stephen was active in the local Marine ROTC. At the start of his senior year he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps, a decision that scared his mother and me. But we supported his decision, and just a few days after high school graduation we watched him climb aboard that fateful bus that would take him to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, SC.

There are many directions one can take in life. For the select few who commit to reaching their full potential while protecting our nation, there is the path of the United States Marine Corps. My son freely volunteered to take that path. The Corps’ mission is to make the best Marines, win battles, and build quality citizens. They are men and women who live by a set of core values: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. It wasn’t until after he left on that bus that I knew those same values would also have to apply to me. I would have to be strong in my commitment to Stephen. I would have to have a ton of courage as I watched him leave his home. But the honor I would have for him would come easy. Parris Island consists of 8,095 acres, of which only 3,262 are habitable. But even that is an exaggeration. I’m not entirely sure his barracks and his training areas would be deemed “habitable” by typical civilians.

Without doubt, Marine boot camp is more challenging – both physically and mentally – than the basic training programs of any of the other military services. Every hour of every day for 13 weeks is designed for just one purpose: To make the highest quality basic U.S. Marine. On Training Week 10 comes The Crucible. The Crucible is the 54-hour culmination to the transformation of recruit training. Day One starts at 2:00 am., and Day Three ends at 8:00 am. Recruits will travel 42 miles on foot during the event. There are 29 problem-solving exercises. The recruits will have three meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) during the 54 hours. The recruits will be required to carry ammunition cans up to 50 pounds and dummies up to 100 pounds, in addition to “782″ gear, uniform, and M16 A2 service rifle weight. At the end of Week 12 recruits receive the Marine Corps emblem – the eagle, globe, and anchor – in front of their families and friends. My son was now a Marine. My boy was now a man.

This was around Labor Day 2001. In two weeks 9/11 would happen.

Stephen already had orders in hand. He was to report to Camp Lejeune, NC, to begin training in the Infantry (light mortar). But at the last minute he was given new orders – this time he was to report to the Marine Barracks Washington, “8th & I”, in Washington, DC. There his duties would include light infantry training, ceremonies, and Presidential support. It is a great honor to be chosen for this two-year duty. And he wouldn’t have bullets flying at him as was happening in Afghanistan.

But there he received terrible news. His Drill Instructor at Parris Island was a great man named Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Jordan. His buddies called him “Gump.” He was 42 years old. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was killed in action in Iraq on March 23, 2003, near Nasiriyah after encountering Iraqi troops that were pretending to surrender. “He loved the Marines. He said that’s what made him what he is,” his wife said. “If he were here, he’d say he died doing what he was supposed to be doing.” There is no adequate way to honor this hero. But being a hero is what Marines do better than anyone else.

I believe this event started a fire in my son. I believe it was this tragedy that drove him to want to get into the action in the Middle East. His duties in Washington were over, but the Marines wanted my son to go to Southeast Asia first. He spent a year hopping islands in Southeast Asia doing training exercises and war games. Then came his fourth, and final, year of active service. Then came Afghanistan.

He would have to spend a few months in “some area” in northern California learning how to do urban assault, how to “mingle” with the locals, how to go door-to-door in villages. But at the end of the training he was deemed qualified to continue the hunt for Osama and his buddies in Afghanistan.

He hasn’t, can’t, or won’t tell me all the things that happened in his year in Afghanistan. I know that bullets were fired at him, and that he fired bullets at the enemy. It was a dreadfully long year for his mother and me. We tried to stay strong and positive for him, but it wasn’t easy, and there were many a tear shed in fear for him over the following year.

Then came anger. In early 2005 Newsweek published an article claiming that the guards at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay were flushing copies of the Quran down the toilets. The story turned out to be completely false, but the story sparked huge riots across the Middle East, with one of the most violent riots being in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, not far from Kabul – the place where my son was stationed.

Mobs smashed car and shop windows and attacked government offices, the Pakistani consulate and the offices of two U.N. agencies. Smoke billowed from the consulate and a U.N. building. More than 50 foreign aid workers were reportedly evacuated. And my hero son was placed in grave danger – all because of a false story spread by the anti-Bush crowd at Newsweek magazine. Had my son been killed because of this I would have wanted revenge, and probably the blood of a Newsweek editor or two on my hands. But my son survived – and I became more emboldened to point out liberal, anti-US, anti-military bias of major US media outlets. Newsweek, I shall never forgive what you almost did to my only son.

My hero son is now back home, his active duty in the US Marines over. He served his country with Honor, Courage, and Commitment. He did not get cheap band-aid Purple Hearts and run away from the action as did a certain current US Senator. He didn’t run off to study in Oxford, England, during a time of war as did a certain former US President. He had every option in the world and he freely chose to be a Marine. He chose to serve a country that has given him more opportunity and freedom than anywhere else in the world. He believed that we were fighting a good fight against Islamofascism. And he was blessed by God to return home alive and in one piece. I could never have done what he did. He, more than most people, put others before himself. Everyone gets knocked down, but he got back up. He knows what the word “discipline” means. He has walked through fire without getting burned. He doesn’t have to ask if he’s ready or able. He understands that strength is more than just muscle. He understands what the word “faithful” really means. He knows that bravery is not the absence of fear, but it is the will to overcome fear. And for this he will always be much more than a son, much more than a Marine, much more than a Veteran to me. He will be a hero. Welcome back home, Stephen.

Veterans Day, America, Marine, Parris Island, Marine Corps, eagle, globe, and anchor, 9/11, Afghanistan, Osama, Newsweek, Guantanamo Bay, Jalalabad, Kabul

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