Archive for May, 2009

As always, the list of the fallen in Afghanistan and Iraq; and always running behind.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Naseman, 36, of New Bremen, Ohio, died in Iraq of a non-combat related incident.

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer (3) Brent S. Cole, 38, of Reedsville, W. Va., died  when his helicopter went down in  Afghanistan.

The following three Army men died in Iraq during an IED explosion:

Major Jason E. George, 38, of Tehachapi, Calif.

Lieutenant Leevi K. Barnard, 28, of Mount Airy, N.C.

Sgt. Paul F. Brooks, 34, of Joplin, Mo.

A Dept of Defense civilian employee, Maged M. Hussein, 43, of Cairo, Egypt, died in  Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle

U.S. Army Spc. Chad A. Edmundson, 20, of Williamsburg, Pa., died  in Iraq of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit.

LCpl Kieron Hill, 20 of the UK was killed  in Afghanistan by an IED

LCpl Robert M. Richards, 24 of the UK was killed  in Afghanistan by an IED

U.S. Army 1st Sgt Blue C. Rowe, 33, from Arkansas died in Afghanistan in a car bomb attack

Sapper Jordan Rossi, 22 of the UK was killed  in Afghanistan by an IED

Fusilier Petero Suesue, 28, of the UK was killed in Afghanistan by small arms fire.

I can’t begin to tell you how many conversations beginning with this phrase went south in a hurry.  A recent one, where the variant was “Well, maybe she is not really…” was likewise unpleasantly terminated.  By me.  Forcefully.

The first such verbal debacle I recall as an adult was in the Army.  A  Protestant of the particularly annoying proselytizing sort  was telling me I was “much too well read and refined” to be a Catholic.  Apparently, I didn’t look “dumb Mick”  or “Dago” enough to be a Papist.  In retrospect, he was right….I was too well-read to keep buying the Catholic inconsistencies; in fact I was not cut out to be any sort of Christian at all.  But at the time, I contented myself with telling him that he might have something there, because most good Catholics would simply forgive his presumption and walk off.  I, on the other hand, I said confidentially three inches from his ear, had a burning desire to grab his gabbing tongue, and cut it off.  He was correct, that was too blood-thirsty to make me a good Catholic.

Then there are those who stay politely clear of religion, but know more about medicine or my personal condition than I or my doctor.  “You’re not really allergic to those foods,” they begin, with jocular laughter and a hearty thump on the back, “You’re just being PICKY.”  Right.  I am being picky, that is why I no longer touch foods I dearly LOVE to eat, like tomato sauces and baked potatoes.  So, yeah, picky…that’s it.  It couldn’t possibly be real that I stop breathing when my throat closes, hell no, I am just picky.

And then there was the “You’re not really a feminist, you bitch!  You are one of those lezzie freaks who just wants women for yourself, so you “shelter” them from so-called abusive husbands so you can get a chance at ‘em”  Right, sure.  Couldn’t have had a damn thing to do with her being black and blue from forehead to hip, could it?  And “so-called abusive”?  Wow, I wonder what qualifies as real then?  I suppose it would be un-feminist of me to also suggest that it is not lesbians who look for vulnerable women to prey upon sexually, but men, most of the time?  Or how feminist (and mature) is this response? “Fuck off and die!”

But not to worry, women have said stupid things to me as well.  Like the skinny little bit of fluff that a strong wind would blow over saying to me when my plate arrived at a group dinner, “Oh my God, you’re not really going to eat THAT, are you?”  Apparently, rare steak is not lady like.   And there was too MUCH food there, too.  Yep, I really AM.  Or the boss I quit on and who, as I was picking up my stuff to leave, said “You’re not really going to quit just because you think I broke labor laws?”   Yep, I really AM, cause I don’t ‘think’ labor laws were broken; I know it, I argued to utter futility and then I was done.  Because if I stay and watch you browbeat other employees any more, I won’t just quit, I’ll HIT you and quit.

Another boss, when I was a beekeeper, leaning across a table to say to me, “You aren’t really one of those Communist Democrats, are you?”  Yes, yes, I am you reactionary illegal immigrant hiring ass!

And then, when I finally told a long-time friend that I had left the Catholic Church and admitted my own paganism to myself and my family, who said “Oh, honey, you aren’t really a heretic or pagan; you’re just pissed off at the Pope, it will pass.”  Nope, it won’t pass.  Yes, I am pissed off at several popes.  And yes, I really am a pagan, and if it makes you feel better to call me a heretic, too…well, go right on ahead.  Whatever floats your boat….but mine is sailing other rivers these days.

And the most recent of these conversations wasn’t even about me.  Confiding to a friend that I had to apologize for distraction, I told her I was concerned over a lesbian friend who was in a break up.  And yeah, you guessed it, the voice on the phone said, “Oh, yeah…she has a kid from a marriage, right?  You know, she isn’t really a lesbian….she should re-examine how she feels about men now.”  Right.  I had to go very quickly at that point.

If any of you readers think someone is not gay or lesbian simply because they once were in a hetero marriage, let me point out that the dominant paradigm is shoved down all our throats from infancy.  As humans, we do tend to try what we have been “taught” first.  But enough times of it not working, we finally get the courage and strength to try something else.

Likewise for Christian religion in America—-it was ours from the cradle.  But like all babies outgrow cradles, some of us outgrow Abrahamic religions.  Don’t tell us we don’t have a “real” religion because it isn’t YOUR religion.  In fact, don’t tell me or anyone else that we have to have ANY religion, because if someone doesn’t want any gods at all, it really isn’t your damned call!

Don’t tell me how to eat, or how to feel, or how to fuck.  Because if your burning need to tell me “You’re not really….” anything at all just because you like your idea of me better than my reality, I will feel likewise driven to tell you that “Yes, I AM!” and further more, I will tell you what you are, too.   You will be an asshole!

Tomorrow I will pick flowers to put on the center stone of the Labyrinth.  But no visitors will come, no notice inviting them will grace the local paper.  Nor will I read names of the dead there as I do in the late fall.  Better weather for standing with a list, in May; proof I am not the brightest bulb in the package that I do it in October or November instead.

Yesterday, running errands, we stopped to put money in the jar outside the grocery store and took paper poppies in return.  Poppies, red like those that cover the famous fields in Flanders, evoking memories of a war pretty much forgotten by the young.  World War I was a war of trenches, mud, rain, and artillery barrages that buried men alive.  It was the war that they hoped would end all wars.  No such luck.

The names of 148,000 veterans are being read by volunteers this weekend—and it will take ten days to get through that list.  Having stood outdoors with a list of over 5400 names to read, I know what time it takes and what toll on the heart.  Nineteen year olds who will never hold their children; fifty year olds whose grandchildren won’t know them; women whose children have heard their last bedtime story from mom—it all tears holes in the heart.

My monument to the cost of the recent wars will be adorned with flowers and a paper red poppy tomorrow.  And today, I will walk through the beauty of early summer in the Nor’west, thinking of eyes that cannot see it and holding each image in trust for them.  Oh, that we would be wiser and more careful of lives that stand in harm’s way at the order of others!

No, I have nothing enlightened or lyrical to say.  This day breaks my heart and shuts my mouth.

Outside last night, saying farewell to guests, I commented on the velvet darkness and starry sparkle of the sky, no moon to distract from the points of starlight.  It seems appropriate that the moon seems to hide her face when I post another list of those lost in the wars; their families’ missing them and mourning.  I know I am names short…at least 4 Americans whose names are not yet released.  As always, I will sadly catch up next list.

My sympathies to the mourning, my cup raised in honor of the fallen!

U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte, 25, of St. Louis, Mo., died in Afghanistan of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.

More names, not thru the DOD (running late for some reason there?) so the info is not complete on all names, my apologies:

U.S. Army Sgt Charlie M. Lee, 23, of Alabama, died in Afghanistan while under attack with small arms fire.

U.S. Army SSG Esau I. De la Pena-Hernandez, 25, of California, died in Afghanistan while under attack with small arms fire.

U.S. Army Spc. David A. Schaefer, _______________, died in Iraq under hostile fire. (don’t have his age and home town or state yet, sorry for any anxiety this lack of information might cause.)

Yes..I know, it probably has been a while since I put up a photo of the walk…and I promise a brand new Spring into Summer one very soon; but for now, from photo archives an overhead shot taken in very early spring a couple years ago.  This was right after some of the softer sandstone was replaced after a hard winter of exfoliation and crumbling from frost.  And below that, my personal favorite from the night in 2003 when we opened the Walk—illuminated by luminarias, one per death (at that time about 403).

I am a liberal arts sort of person.  My mental pool is full of history and philosophy, poetry and good stories.  Math is as appealing as a cardboard sandwich to me; but sometimes what bits of certain sciences can be stated in words is pretty yummy.  Except when it strikes me as stupid in the “Well, duh…” category.

It seems to me that even science must have been dumbed down the last few years; my liberal left-leaning pinko self wonders if the Bush Administration contributed to what looks like silly trivializing of scientific enquiry?  Reading some news stories about science routinely has me shaking my head and saying “And somebody got a grant—got MONEY—to do THAT?!”

But I don’t think it is really politics guiding the kind of stuff I am talking about, and I admit the most fun of being a scientist would be to just play with the proving of ideas. Nonetheless, I still find some of those studies to be shockingly “Why on earth would you even NEED to ask that question?”  For instance, today’s science news tells me that mockingbirds can tell people apart, and furthermore, they KNOW which people are kind of asshat-ish!  Wow, huh?

There has been a host of such stories, basic science blather on “Oh my, look dogs really ARE smart and DO know what words mean!” and “Who knew, parrots really CAN talk and not just repeat back!”  Who knew? REally?  Anyone who spent more than a month with the animal in question, dumb ass!

Here is the deal, and I think it is the crux of some of the problems on this planet: people are hubristic morons!  We, as a species, think we are SO very special that every other living critter on the face of the planet waits with bated breath to be discovered by us.  Very not, folks…very not.  Animals don’t speak as we do, that doesn’t mean that even a mockingbird can do without knowledge of which bipedal asshat would be likely to shoot it with a air rifle for shits and grins.  It’s called “survival” dudes!  Animals have their own intelligence and  need to be good at different things than we usually pursue. We have forgotten about survival in that light; but if the world keeps suffering from our hubristic attitude, we will likely get some rude reminders of what it means.

There are stories of the ancient gods punishing humans for the sin of Hubris—over-weaning pride; you know, the kind that made them think they were on par with the Gods.  While I admit, scientists who theorize about cloning dinosaurs back into existence might be threading that particular needle, most of them are not that over-proud.  But if you just look at “hubris” with a small “h”….ordinary human superiority, if you will, a lot more people would be going round with a glowing letter on their foreheads.  And it isn’t a big red “A” either. We bipedal and speech endowed primates think we are the crown of creation and we treat everything else like crap.  I won’t go into how some religions encourage that kind of thinking, or I’d be here all day.

Scientists might be onto something pointing out the less recognized abilities of animals and birds, but only IF it teaches people that WE as a species are more limited than we like to admit.  After all, most of the animals on the planet would go on just fine, and even better without us sharing the earth.  We can’t really say the same, can we?  Even that crown of creation idea falls short when you start prying the gems out with a penknife—-every species is a gem, and extinctions soon make your sparkly head-gear look like a cheap cardboard play prop.  We humans can’t do it alone, we aren’t meant to be the only species, nor the ‘top’ species.  Human and hubris both begin with the letter “h” and we might just keep that in mind in our interactions with our planet.  We need to get the hell over ourselves and get back to thinking of ourselves AS one of the animals not the zookeepers.

Again the time to note the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan and send our sympathies to the grieving families and friends of the fallen.  (As usual, links that may lead to pictures may be found on this site’s page of helpful connections: http://walkofthefallen.com/Links.html )

And for those who found their way here looking for terms: non-hostile means not caused by the enemy, it does NOT necessarily mean non-violent.  And non-combat cause is similar—the five men shot by a fellow soldier are listed as non-combat deaths, for instance.  These are not my choices, but the Dept of Defense listings.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Randy S. Agno, 29, of Pearl City, Hawaii, died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, of wounds sustained  from a non-combat related incident  in  Iraq.

U.S. Army Pvt. Justin P. Hartford, 21, of Elmira, N.Y., died in Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

U.S. Army Spc. Omar M. Albrak, 21, of Chicago, Ill., died  in Iraq of injuries sustained during a motor vehicle accident.

U.S. Army Spc. Lukasz D. Saczek, 23, of Lake in the Hills, Ill., died  in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident

These are the  four  U.S. Army men who were shot by a fellow service member in Iraq while at a counseling center for battlefield stress; the DOD notice lists their cause of death as a “non-combat incident.”  The fifth name is the Navy officer who was the counselor.

Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas.

Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.

Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.

Pfc. Michael E. Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.

Navy Commander Charles K. Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C.

U.S. Army Maj. Steven Hutchison, 60, of Scottsdale, Ariz., died  in Iraq of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

U.S. Army Cpl. Ryan C. McGhee, 21, of Fredericksburg, Va., died  from wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces while conducting combat operations in  Iraq.

The following Coalition troops died in Afghanistan of hostile fire and IED attacks:

Rifleman Adrian Sheldon, 25, of the United Kingdom

Sgt. Ben Ross,, 34, of the United Kingdom

Cpl. Kumar Pun, 31, of the United Kingdom

Lt. Mark L. Evison, 26, of the United Kingdom

Marine Jason Mackie, 21, of the United Kingdom

The Army wants to do the “right” thing.  They want to offer counseling and support to troops in Iraq suffering from the stresses of war.  So at Camp Liberty, one could go talk it over in group, apparently.

The Army has rules, though.  In a war zone, every troop will at all times have his weapon with him.

And at Camp Liberty, these two “right” things collided to make a very wrong thing: five men were shot to death by a fellow service member.  And yes, their names will appear on my more routine moon phase listing as well.  But I just have to mention here, that when the names were released, their cause of death was listed by the Dept. of Defense as merely “a non-combat incident.”  Wow, and the British are accused of under-statement.

Army Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas.

Army Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.

Army Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.

Army Pfc. Michael E. Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.

Navy Commander Charles K. Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C.,

One would think checking weapons at the door wouldn’t be too damned difficult..

The military  identified the gunman as Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, of Sherman, Tex. Russell has been charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. Days before the shootings, his superiors had actually taken his own weapon from him in worry over his state of mind.  He took a rifle from another soldier and went to the clinic to kill.  The comment was made by one officer that many troops don’t seek mental health care because of the stigma attached.  Now, they may avoid it for fear of being shot!

If anything good can come out of something so tragic, I hope it will be to draw the attention of the American people to the growing list of blandly reported “non-combat incident” deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rites of spring around here include the following:

Breaking back over row upon row of garden seeding and hour upon hour of garden weeding.

Smiling to see the black garden rows (nothing germinated yet) steaming in the sun.

Watching pink cherry blossoms by the thousands ‘dancing’ across windswept asphalt.

And then for fun: Drunken flower towers!