Posted on 03/02/2004 5:13:03 PM PST by SandRat
-----Original Message-----
From: OCAR Public Service Announcement Sent: Friday, February 27, 2004 12:22 To: Subject: Report from Dover Importance: High
Subject: Report from Dover
Sir: Per the CG's request, here's that report about the work at Dover. Recommend the SGS send it out across the land.
There are no reporters on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base. The public is not allowed to witness the military tradition of "receiving the remains". Instead, there are soldiers, roused at dark hours to stand in the confines of what seems like a secret as the dead are brought home. I am one of the soldiers. Nearly every day we learn of another death in Iraq. In our collective consciousness, we tally the statistics of dead and wounded. The number is over 500 now. But none of our conjurings are as real and tangible as the Stars and Stripes folded perfectly over a coffin cradling one of those statistics on his or her way home. It does not matter where somebody stands politically on the war, but I believe that all who have an opinion should know the cost of that opinion. When a soldier dies in a foreign land, his or her remains are returned to the United States for their final rest. The remains arrive in Dover, Del., without fanfare.
No family member is present. There are no young children to feel sad or confused. Just a small group of soldiers waiting to do their duty and honor the fallen.
"Dover flights" are met by soldiers from the U. S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment, the storied Old Guard. They are true soldiers, assigned to an esteemed regiment, but it is a unit defined by polish, not mud. It seems that they quietly long to be tested with their comrades "over there. "But it is clear to me as I watch them that they find immense pride in honoring their country this way. Silence.
I am a helicopter pilot in the U. S. Army, and it is my job to have the honor guard at Dover at whatever hour a flight arrives. In military-speak, the plane's grim contents are referred to as "HRs"-"human remains. "
Once the plane arrives, conversation ends. The soldiers form a squad of two even ranks and march out to the tarmac. A general follows, flanked by a chaplain and the ranking representative from the service in which the fallen soldier served. The plane's cargo door opens slowly revealing a cavernous space. The honor guard steps onto a mobile platform that is raised to the cargo bay. The soldiers enter in lock-step formation and place themselves on both sides of the casket.
The squad lifts, the soldiers buckling slightly under the weight. The remains have been packed on ice into metal containers that can easily exceed 500 pounds. The squad moves slowly back onto the elevated platform and deposits the casket with a care that evokes an image of fraternal empathy. It is the only emotion they betray, but their gentleness is unmistakable and compelling. The process continues until the last casket is removed from the plane. On bad nights, this can take over an hour. The few of us observing say nothing, the silence absolute, underscored by something sacred. There is no rule or order that dictates it, but the silence is maintained with a discipline that needs no command.
The caskets are lowered together to the earth, where the soldiers lift them into a van, one by one. The doors close, and the squad moves out.
Just before the van rounds the corner, someone speaks in a voice just above a whisper. We snap to and extend a sharp salute. There are those who would politicize this scene, making it the device of an argument over the freedom of the press. But if this scene were ever to be exploited by the lights and cameras of our "infotainment" industry, it would be offensive.
Still, the story must be told. A democracy's lifeblood, after all, is an informed citizenry, and this image is nowhere in the public mind.
The men and women arriving in flag-draped caskets do not deserve the disrespect of arriving in the dark confines of secrecy. But it is a soldier's story, and it must be told through a soldier's eyes. In the military, we seldom discuss whether we are for or against the war.
Instead, we know intimately its cost. For those of us standing on the tarmac at Dover in those still and inky nights, our feelings have nothing to do with politics. They are feelings of sadness, of empathy. And there is nothing abstract about them.
Chaplain (COL) US Army Reserve Command
"The soldier's heart...spirit...soul...are everything." General George Marshall
And a hard Duty it has to be.
May God comfort our fallen soldiers and their grieving families.
Thanks for the re-ping, Maigrey.
Tried to find something special to add, but it seems wrong to add anything ~ except thank you to our beloved troops (and a blurry screen alert).
The squad moves slowly back onto the elevated platform and deposits the casket with a care that evokes an image of fraternal empathy...their gentleness is unmistakable and compelling....The few of us observing say nothing, the silence absolute, underscored by something sacred...
.....it is a soldier's story, and it must be told through a soldier's eyes. In the military, we seldom discuss whether we are for or against the war.
Instead, we know intimately its cost. For those of us standing on the tarmac at Dover in those still and inky nights, our feelings have nothing to do with politics. They are feelings of sadness, of empathy. And there is nothing abstract about them.
Chaplain (COL) US Army Reserve Command
"The soldier's heart...spirit...soul...are everything." General George Marshall
~ Y ~
Perhaps the Bagpipes playing Amazing Grace?
No you're right -- pass the kleenex box please.
Well they once again plan to make an issue out of Dover this Month.
From Military Families Speak Out Web
Dover to D.C. Memorial Procession
A trail of mourning and truth to honor those killed and wounded in Iraq
Sunday, March 14 - Monday, March 15, 2004
The Bush Administration refuses to acknowledge the toll of this war – including those who are killed and wounded. We call on this administration to start telling the truth, and stop hiding the toll. We will begin this two-day event at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the U.S. war dead arrive. This memorial procession will honor our fallen brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers and friends, along with Iraqis and the increasing number of people from other countries who have been killed and wounded, as we deliver our call to end the violence to the nation's capital.
Sunday, March 14 - Gather at Camden Friends Meetinghouse in Dover at 12 Noon, for a brief service followed by a memorial procession to the gates of Dover Air Force Base, arriving at 2:30pm. Following a ceremony at the base, a funeral caravan will proceed to Baltimore, MD for the night and then into Washington, DC the following morning.
Monday, March 15 - Gathering and observances at 9am at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC, current residence of many U.S. servicemen and women wounded in Iraq, followed by memorial procession to White House, arriving at Farragut Square, (2 blocks from the White House) at 2pm. We will then process to the White House to speak the names of those who have died in Iraq. At the White House some people in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. will engage non-violent civil disobedience as they deliver the memorial and opposition to the war.
Please plan to join us on March 14 and 15, to honor those killed and wounded in Iraq, and to say no to war.
Military Families: For more information and to get involved, contact Military Families Speak Out at mfso@mfso.org
Coming Soon:
Information about an MFSO gathering on Saturday, March 13 in Washington, D.C.
Driving and Bus information to Camden/Dover, Delaware Driving and Bus information to Walter Reed Hospital in D.C.
Information about airports (closest are Baltimore-Washington Int'l Airport, Washington National Airport and the airport in Philadelphia)
Ideas about inexpensive places to stay in the Washington D.C. area
Information about possible rides from the D.C. area to Dover (on March 14) and Walter Reed Hospital (on March 15).
Probably not as many as they would like for everyone to think. The Chapter that was organizing in our area used ROTC parents, cousins etc. They denied to our face that they are working with the very same groups that are listed on their web as sponsers
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