Laurie
I heart Leonard
Dad sent this email to me. I read it at work and bawled my head off.
Please share this with who you see fit. Thank you to all who serve or who have served--we would be NOTHING without you.
IT HAPPENS EVERY FRIDAY! WERE YOU AWARE?
Mornings at the Pentagon
By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
McClatchy Newspapers
Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and
Air Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that
is war. Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded
and facing months or years in military hospitals.
This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and
former roommate, Army Lt. Col. Robert Bateman, who recently
completed a year long tour of duty in Iraq and is now back at the
Pentagon.
Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known
ceremony that fills the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon
with cheers, applause and many tears every Friday morning. It first
appeared on May 17 on the Weblog of media critic and pundit Eric
Alterman at the Media Matters for America Website.
"It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the
Pentagon. This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the
floors shine, the hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At
this instant the entire length of the corridor is packed with
officers, a few sergeants and some civilians, all crammed tightly
three and four deep against the walls. There are thousands here.
This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The
G3 offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All
Army. Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not
have seen each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each
other, cross the way and renew.
Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains down the center.
The air conditioning system was not designed for this press of
bodies in this area..
The temperature is rising already. Nobody cares. "10:36 hours:
The clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the outermost of the five
rings of the Pentagon and it is closest to the entrance to the
building. This clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is applause
with a deep emotion behind it as it moves forward in a wave down the
length of the hallway.
"A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of
the soldier in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his
presence. He is the first. He is missing the greater part of one
leg, and some of his wounds are still suppurating. By his age I
expect that he is a private, or perhaps a private first class.
"Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his
gaze and nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago
when I described one of these events, those lining the hallways were
somewhat different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private
guilt for not having shared in the burden ... yet.
"Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in
the wheelchair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause,
but I think deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The
soldier's chair is pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.
"Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come
more of his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as
need be by a field grade officer.
"11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My
hands hurt, and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my
own head. My hands hurt. Please! Shut up and clap. For twenty-four
minutes, soldier after soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25,
30.. Fifty-three legs come with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or
arms, but down this hall came 30 solid hearts.
They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then
meet for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor,
hosted by the generals. Some are wheeled along. Some insist upon
getting out of their chairs, to march as best they can with their
chin held up, down this hallway, through this most unique audience.
Some are catching handshakes and smiling like a politician at a
Fourth of July parade. More than a couple of them seem amazed and
are smiling shyly.
"There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old
war-bride pushing her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not
quite understanding why her husband is so affected by this, the boy
she grew up with, now a man, who had never shed a tear is crying;
the older immigrant Latino parents who have, perhaps more than their
wounded mid-20s son, an appreciation for the emotion given on their
son's behalf. No man in that hallway, walking or clapping, is
ashamed by the silent tears on more than a few cheeks. An Airborne
Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see. A couple of the
officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of this parade in
the past.
These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are
our brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on,
every single Friday, all year long, for more than four years.
"Did you know that?
Please share this with who you see fit. Thank you to all who serve or who have served--we would be NOTHING without you.
IT HAPPENS EVERY FRIDAY! WERE YOU AWARE?
Mornings at the Pentagon
By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
McClatchy Newspapers
Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and
Air Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that
is war. Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded
and facing months or years in military hospitals.
This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and
former roommate, Army Lt. Col. Robert Bateman, who recently
completed a year long tour of duty in Iraq and is now back at the
Pentagon.
Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known
ceremony that fills the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon
with cheers, applause and many tears every Friday morning. It first
appeared on May 17 on the Weblog of media critic and pundit Eric
Alterman at the Media Matters for America Website.
"It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the
Pentagon. This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the
floors shine, the hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At
this instant the entire length of the corridor is packed with
officers, a few sergeants and some civilians, all crammed tightly
three and four deep against the walls. There are thousands here.
This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The
G3 offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All
Army. Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not
have seen each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each
other, cross the way and renew.
Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains down the center.
The air conditioning system was not designed for this press of
bodies in this area..
The temperature is rising already. Nobody cares. "10:36 hours:
The clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the outermost of the five
rings of the Pentagon and it is closest to the entrance to the
building. This clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is applause
with a deep emotion behind it as it moves forward in a wave down the
length of the hallway.
"A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of
the soldier in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his
presence. He is the first. He is missing the greater part of one
leg, and some of his wounds are still suppurating. By his age I
expect that he is a private, or perhaps a private first class.
"Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his
gaze and nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago
when I described one of these events, those lining the hallways were
somewhat different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private
guilt for not having shared in the burden ... yet.
"Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in
the wheelchair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause,
but I think deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The
soldier's chair is pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.
"Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come
more of his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as
need be by a field grade officer.
"11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My
hands hurt, and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my
own head. My hands hurt. Please! Shut up and clap. For twenty-four
minutes, soldier after soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25,
30.. Fifty-three legs come with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or
arms, but down this hall came 30 solid hearts.
They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then
meet for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor,
hosted by the generals. Some are wheeled along. Some insist upon
getting out of their chairs, to march as best they can with their
chin held up, down this hallway, through this most unique audience.
Some are catching handshakes and smiling like a politician at a
Fourth of July parade. More than a couple of them seem amazed and
are smiling shyly.
"There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old
war-bride pushing her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not
quite understanding why her husband is so affected by this, the boy
she grew up with, now a man, who had never shed a tear is crying;
the older immigrant Latino parents who have, perhaps more than their
wounded mid-20s son, an appreciation for the emotion given on their
son's behalf. No man in that hallway, walking or clapping, is
ashamed by the silent tears on more than a few cheeks. An Airborne
Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see. A couple of the
officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of this parade in
the past.
These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are
our brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on,
every single Friday, all year long, for more than four years.
"Did you know that?
