Posted on 05/14/2004 10:14:25 AM PDT by GOPcapitalist
The Article that the Chronicle Would Not Write.... But We Will
By Steve and Amy Walters
The journey my family has made in one year has been one of following a young man's personal triumph and tragic death. It resulted in the loss of our beloved son and brother. The personal triumphs of Leroy Sandoval, Jr.'s life were much greater than just this past year. He had always been the kind of kid that had something to smile about or could find a way to make you laugh. His friends and family will attest to that. But, for now I will stick within the parameters of our one year journey together with Leroy.
Leroy's service to our country was an incredible thing to witness. Leroy decided last year in March of 2003 to get serious about the one goal that kept calling him, The U.S. Marines. He had been tired of sitting on the sidelines since September 11th. He had two very close cousins who were Marines. One had been to Iraq already and one had entered on the delayed entry program. Any opportunities he had had since high school graduation did not matter anymore and no persuasion to do anything less would be considered. “Leroy, why don't you join the Navy” I mentioned out of concern for the Marines policy of being first in and first to fight. My father had served in the Navy on an Aircraft Carrier. Seemed safer. My wife said the same thing. She included all branches of the military. She was concerned about “Boot Camp”. As we had heard how hard it was. Leroy had made up his mind. He said “I'll be fine”. To that we offered our support and told him we were 100% behind him.
Leroy really wanted to make a difference. Leroy had picked a goal and he wanted to give it his best. From the start, when he first signed up, he realized he had made a serious commitment. He began to prepare. He ran around our neighborhood. He lifted weights. He began studying the Marine Information that was given to him. This was a determined young man. He was determined more than I had ever seen him before. This went on for 3 months, but always on the horizon was the infamous “Boot Camp”. May 19, 2003 arrived , the day he was scheduled to start. Leroy woke-up 30 minutes earlier than necessary to drive down to the local burger shop for his last breakfast as a civilian. 15 minutes later he came running back in the house with a 1/2 eaten breakfast sandwich and a full Coke, “Mom, the recruiter was there eating breakfast”, He said. We all laughed as his last few minutes of freedom came to an end and the recruiter showed up at our door at 5:00 am, laughing. Even Leroy was laughing. We caught up with him later that mid-morning at the local Military Enrollment office. Our whole family was there cheering him on as he and other military recruits took an oath to serve our country. Even one of his aunts was with us. We were the only family members there for anyone. That was us, always cheering him on and supporting him. We all hugged him and said goodbye once more.
Well, “Boot Camp” started for Leroy that day. He received the full treatment, as Marines before and after him have received. It lives up to the legend surrounding it for as near as I can tell. The “Yellow Steps”, the bald heads, the drill instructors, and the physical (and mental) training. And the becoming a man. Almost immediately came the mail from the Marines. Your son is alright, we are training him hard, please send him letters to encourage him as he may feel depressed at times. They even had Leroy send us a handwritten letter. You may not recognize your boy when he is through with this. That is one thing I remember reading. That is when we started writing to Leroy and encouraging him. You can make it! We are behind you! We would write to him 2 or 3 times a week sometimes. And he would do the same. It was a regular event to have that familiar Marine Stationary in our mail box, stamped from San Diego, Ca. Then, came the first phone call about a month and a week from when he had left. Everyone was a “Yes Mam”or a “Yes Sir” (even his younger sister) over the phone. He was sad and sore, but overall still positive that he wanted to make it. We did our best to encourage him. Then, came the news from San Diego Marine Recruit Depot “Get ready for your son's graduation from Boot Camp. You are invited to attend his Graduation Ceremony on August 19th.” We began making plans to attend and to fly out to San Diego.
I am Leroy's step-father, in case I haven't mentioned it previously. But, on the day that I saw Leroy come running-up on that base, in San Diego, with his platoon, I felt the pride that only a father can feel for a son, who has truly accomplished something great. I felt as though Leroy had worked so hard in three months to graduate there. He deserved the very best of congratulatory praises that were imaginable. My wife, Amy, myself, and two of his grandparents, screamed at the top of our lungs, “Yaahoo!, Leroy you did it!, Way to go, Leroy!”. His eyes fixed straight ahead on his platoon leader. He was told not to smile or look our way as they all ran past us that morning. We were so proud of him (this man before us). As were the other thousands of parents, who had gathered together to cheer on their child, that was graduating, as well. It was hard to hear anything from all the loud shouting. But, I saw a faint smile come across his lips as he went by us. He always had a hard time to keep from smiling. Later, when we were boarding the plane for home, Leroy was walking through the airport in his “Alpha” uniform, when this guy, with a big outdoorsman-style back pack said, “Well done, Marine.” This is the kind of respect that is generated from those who understand what a Marine graduate has accomplished. Leroy was also proud of what he had achieved and rightfully so. But, there was no time to take a sigh of relief. Leroy had signed up for Advanced Infantry and the real training was about to begin. “Leroy, Can't you sign up for something else?” we would say. “No, this is what I want to do and besides, I'm going to be fine” Leroy would say. All right, we support your decision.
Click on the link below to continue reading
(Excerpt) Read more at chronicallybiased.com ...
Leroy Sandoval of Houston, Texas, USMC, was killed in action in Iraq last month. Shortly after his death a reporter named Lucas Wall from the Houston Chronicle visited the home of Sandoval's parents and sister to write a story. During the visit this reporter began pressuring the family members for a quote that was critical of President Bush. The family, which supports Bush and the war, explicitly told the reporter not to bring politics into the article and refused to give Wall the quote he desired. Wall ignored their wishes and included a political statement about the "failure" of Bush's war effort and the absence of WMD's anyway.
The next day Sandoval's sister, a high school student in Houston, called into a local radio station and told everyone what had happened. During the interview a Houston Chronicle executive was also brought on the air in which he proceded to make excuses for his reporter's bias despite repeated requests that he issue a retraction.
Houston ping!
Reading the article, you can't help but be impressed by the apparent transformation of young Mr. Sandoval during boot camp. The spaghetti-spined weiners out here will call it brain-washing. I (and others) call it growing up!
I am familiar. Read this tribute...This family and this Marine make you cry, make you proud, make you happy and make you grateful for those who serve our country.
Rest in Peace, Leroy Sandoval..Your family honors your life, your service and your sacrifice. I do also.
Well .. this is the best news. The public is getting REALLY fed up with these biased people.
BTTT
The Houston Chronicle is a criminal waste of trees. This story doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
GOPc is posting news from Dan Patrick ..... run, duck, and cover !!!!!!!!
R O F L M A O
LOL! As long as we're both gunnin' for the same enemy, the Houston Chronicle, I'm all for it!
It's the best kind of brain washing there is! Washes all the crap right out!
Very true. The Chron's news penetration rates have been dropping recently even though they're the monopoly paper in town. The problem though is the fact that their profits do NOT depend on subscription numbers. I once heard Chronicle publisher Jack Sweeney himself admit this. They get their real money from advertisers, not newspaper sales, and they do it by jacking up the ad prices even while circulation and quality dip.
It's the classic case of the economist's lazy monopoly: by having relatively stable ad income the Chronicle is able to continue publishing without being accountable to reader preferences or complaints. So quality suffers. As quality suffers, disenchanted readers begin to substitute away to a competing news source such as the internet. That means the Chron's readership drops even further, but since readers provide no real revenue to them the loss of those readers will not induce "market efficiency," which in the newspaper world means better quality reporting.
In effect there are two real ways to shut the Chronicle down. One is to start a competitor paper that draws enough readers to make it a competitor with the chronicle for advertisor dollars. The other is to go after companies who advertise in the Chronicle itself and voice your dissproval to the corporate office much as many conservatives have done to sponsors of leftists like Bill Maher and the Dixie Chicks.
Are you ME??? I've been saying the same thing about the waste of trees in regards to the HC for years.
You could have done a throat-tightening warning. This is a wonderful/sad/proud story and thank you so much for posting it. I have thought of that family many many times and wished I could pass my thoughts on to them.
LOL!!!
Thank you for posting this, it is so important that we all understand the loss that families have to live with so that we may enjoy our freedoms. God bless them and the way they have chosen to honor their young man! We should honor him too by complaining to the Chronicle. It is my fervent hope that the President will see fit to invite this wonderful family to the White House to show that we as a nation honor him as well.
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