Posts Tagged ‘prayer beads’

The moon is half full in the sky, and it seems the flights of flag draped caskets must be at least that full.
My sincere sympathy to the families and loved ones of the fallen troops.

US Army PFC Nathaniel D. Garvin, 20, of Radcliff, Ky., died July 12 at Forward Operating Base Frontenac, Afghanistan (Kandahar, Afghanistan), of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

US Army Spc. Christopher J. Moon, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., died July 13 at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device on July 6 in Afghanistan.

Three US Army men died July 13 in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit with rifle, rocket propelled grenade, and small arms fire.

1st Lt. Christopher S. Goeke, 23, of Minn.
SSG. Christopher T. Stout, 34, of Worthville, Ky.
SSG. Sheldon L. Tate, 27, of Hinesville, Ga.

US Army Pvt. Brandon M. King, 23, of Tallahassee, Fla., died July 14 in Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.

On July 14, in Afghanistan, four US Army men were killed when their military vehicle encountered an IED:

Spc. Chase Stanley, 21, of Napa, Calif.
Spc. Jesse D. Reed, 26, of Orefield, Penn.
Spc. Matthew J. Johnson, 21, of Maplewood, Minn.
Sgt. Zachary M. Fisher, 24, of Ballwin, Mo.

On July 15, two US Army men were killed in Afghanistan by the explosion of an IED:

SFC Class John H. Jarrell, 32, of Brunson, S.C.
SGT Leston M. Winters, 30, of Sour Lake, Texas.

US Marine Staff Sgt. Justus S. Bartelt, 27, of Polo, Ill., died July 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Sgt. Jesse R. Tilton, 23, of Decatur, Ill., died July 16 at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, of wounds sustained July 13 when insurgents attacked his unit in Afghanistan, with rifle, rocket propelled grenade, and small arms fire.

US Marine Cpl. Dave M. Santos, 21, of Rota, Marianas Islands of the Pacific, died July 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (Possibly killed by a fellow Marine.)

US Army Sgt. Matthew W. Weikert, 29, of Jacksonville, Ill., died July 17 in Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated.

US Army Sgt. Justin B. Allen, 23, of Coal Grove, Ohio, died July 18 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot by insurgents while conducting combat operations.

US Marine Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, Ark., died July 18 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Sgt. Anibal Santiago, 37, of Belvidere, Ill., died July 18 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained July 17 in a non-combat related incident.

US Army 1st Lt. Robert N. Bennedsen, 25, of Vashon, Wash., died July 18 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device exploded.

Flags courtesy of ITA’s
Flags of All Countries used with permission.

On July 13, in Afghanistan, three members of the British Royal Gurkha Rifles were murdered in an RPG attack by a brother soldier in the Afghan military, he had apparently been turned by the Taliban. Killed were:
Major James J. Bowman, 34 of Salisbury, England
Lt. Neal Turkington, 26 of Craigavon, N. Ireland
Cpl Arjun Purja Pun, 33, of Khibang village, Nepal

A British Royal Marine was likewise killed on July 13 in Afghanistan when his unit was hit with small arms fire:
Marine Matthew Harrison, 23, of Herfordshire, England

Sr. Aircraftsman Kinikki Griffiths, 24, of England (hometown unreported) died in Afghanistan on 16 July as the result of a vehicular accident.

Marine David T. Crooks, 26, of Birmingham, England was killed in Afghanistan on July 16 by an IED explosion.

SSG Brett G. Linley, 29, of Birmingham, England was killed in Afghanistan on July 17 by an IED explosion.

SGT David T. Monkhouse (age unknown) of Carlisle, England, was killed in Afghanistan on July 17 by an IED explosion.

In my continuing search for names of military suicides,
as found in a story in the Washington Post, Marine Maj. Jeff Hackett,on June 5, 2010, died a suicide when he shot himself, leaving a note saying “I deserve Hell.” In my opinion, he had already been there.

The moon tonight will be full and bright and will light up the summer night, casting shadows across the lawn….and across cemeteries across the nation and around the world. With this list came the stringing of another strand of 200 prayer counting beads….to mark the roll call carried into the Labyrinth in past weeks. My count is now over 6,600 for U.S. and Coalition dead in Afghanistan and Iraq.
My profoundest condolences to the families and friends left behind.

British Marine Richard Hollingston, 23, of Hampshire, England, died on June 20 in Afghanistan due to wounds from an IED detonation.

US Army Spc. Scott A. Andrews, 21, of Fall River, Mass., died June 21 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated.

US Marine Lance Cpl. Timothy G. Serwinowski, 21, of North Tonawanda, N.Y., died June 21 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Spc. Jacob P. Dohrenwend, 20, of Milford, Ohio, died June 21 in Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

On 21 June, in Afghanistan, two US Army men died from wounds suffered when a suicide bomber attacked their unit:

PFC. David T. Miller, 19, of Wilton, N.Y.
Spc. Andrew R. Looney, 22, of Owasso, Okla.

On June 21, a helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, killing five men aboard:

US Army Sgt. Brandon Silk, 25, of Orono, Maine.
Canadian Sgt James P. McNeil, 28, of Nova Scotia, Canada
Australian Pvt. Benjamin A. Chuck, 27, of Queensland Australia
Australian Pvt. Timothy J. Aplin, 30
Australian Pvt. Scott T. Palmer, 27

British Marine Paul Warren, 23, of Preston, England died in Afghanistan as a result of hostile small arms fire on June 21.

British LCpl Michael Taylor, 30, of Rhyl, Wales died in Afghanistan on June 22 as a result of hostile small arms fire.

US Army 1st SGT. Eddie Turner, 41, of Fort Belvoir, Va., died June 22 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

US Marine Cpl. Claudio Patino IV, 22, of Yorba Linda, Calif., died June 22 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, when an IED exploded in Afghanistan.

US Marine Cpl. Kevin A. Cueto, 23, of San Jose, Calif., died June 22 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, when an IED exploded in Afghanistan.

US Marine Cpl. Joshua R. Dumaw, 23, of Spokane Valley, Wash., died June 22 while supporting combat operations , when an IED exploded in Afghanistan.

US Army PFC. Anthony T. Justesen, 22, of Wilsonville, Ore., died June 23 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated.

US Army Pfc. Russell E. Madden, 29, of Dayton, Ky., died June 23 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with rocket fire.

British Army Sgt. Steven W. Darbyshire, 35, of Wigan, England, died on June 23 in Afghanistan in a firefight.

Two Romanian soldiers died June 23 in Afghanistan in an IED explosion . I do not have complete information on them yet:

Cpl. Paul Caracuda, 36
Sgt Maj. Dan Ciobotaru, 28

US Army Staff Sgt. Edwardo Loredo, 34, of Houston, Texas, died June 24 in Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

US Army Pfc. Robert K. L. Repkie, 20, of Knoxville, Tenn., died June 24 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

Two US Army soldiers died on June 25 in Afghanistan as a result of attack with RPG and small arms fire:
Spc. Blair D. Thompson, 19, of Rome, N.Y.
Spc. Jared C. Plunk, 27, of Stillwater, Okla.

US Marine Cpl. Daane A. Deboer, 24, of Ludington, Mich., died June 25 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Four British Army men died on June 23 when their vehicle overturned:

Pvt Alex Isaac, 20 of Wirral, England
Pvt Douglas Halliday, 20 of Wallasey, England
LCpl David Ramsden, 26 of Leeds, England
Colour Sgt Martyn Horton, 34, of Runcorn, England

The moon grows, as does the list of the dead. Soon, more counting prayer beads will be strung and carried to the heart of the Labyrinth. A cup, a prayer, a teardrop for the fallen and their families, please?

Airman Martin Kristiansen, 33, of Denmark, died in an IED explosion in Afghanistan on June 13. His explosives detection dog died with him.

British Army Marine Steven J. Birdsall, 20, of Warrington, England, died in Afghanistan on June 14 of wounds from an attack with small arms fire.

Cpl. Grzegorz Bukowski, 29, of Warsaw, Poland, died in an IED explosion in Afghanistan on June 15.

US Army Spc. Christopher W. Opat, 29, of Spencer, Iowa, died June 15 in Iraq of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

US Marine Cpl. Jeffrey R. Standfest, 23, of St. Clair, Mich., died June 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Spc. Benjamin D. Osborn, 27, of Queensbury, N.Y., died June 15 in Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

British Army Kingsman Ponipate Tagitaginimoce, 29, of Nausori, Fiji, died on June 15 in Queen Elizabeth Hospital of wounds from small arms fire in Afghanistan.

British Army Cpl. Taniela Tolevu Rogoiruwai, 32, of Nausori, Fiji, died on June 16 in Afghanistan of wounds from hostile small arms fire.

US Lance Cpl. Michael C. Bailey, 29, of Park Hills, Mo., died June 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

US Army Capt. Michael P. Cassidy, 41, of Simpsonville, S.C., died June 17 inIraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

US Navy Seaman William Ortega, 23, of Miami, Fla., died June 18 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device blast. Ortega was assigned as a hospital corpsman to a Marine regiment conducting combat operations against enemy forces.

US Army Spc. Nathan W. Cox, 21, of Fremont, Calif., died June 16 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained June 14 when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire in Afghanistan.

Two US Army men died June 16 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from the explosion of an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Joseph D. Johnson, 24, of Flint, Mich., and
PFC Gunnar R. Hotchkin, 31, of Naperville, Ill.

US Army PFC Benjamin J. Park, 25, of Fairfax Station, Va., died June 18 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device exploded.

US Army Staff Sgt. James P. Hunter, 25, of South Amherst, Ohio, died June 18 in Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated.

British Army Trooper Ashley Smith, 21, of York, England, died on June 18 in Afghanistan of wounds from hostile small arms fire.

French Army Cpl Steeve Cocol, 29 of Sainte Rose, Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles died in Afghanistan on June 18 of wounds from hostile small arms fire.

Where are you from? Think of the waters of your homeland, please. What colors are they? Is the shade in your memory the azure of coastal waters off some Florida cove? The deep emerald of a canyon lake surrounded by forests? Is it the steely blue of the Atlantic off the chilly coast of Maine? The dusky green of leaf shaded trout streams? The sulfur yellow of burbling mineral springs in Yellowstone? The frothing palette off the coast of California? The storm spawning waters sparkling with Portuguese Men of War and other warm water denizens off Gulf Coast of America?

Marines, soldiers, airmen, sailors dying in Afghanistan and Iraq come from many places. Some have floated down lazy shadowed rivers in Europe, drinking beer in the summer sun. Some lived in deserts where red-gold canyon walls reflected in the springtime freshets rushing downhill. Some listened to summertime cascades rushing out of pale pastel tinged glaciers of the Pacific Northwest, my own home.

But all two hundred, for whom I have strung this strand of beads, have had tears shed for their falling. The beads I chose for this counting prayer strand reminds me of waters I have seen. These beads include the blood-stained waters of war and the waters of 200 homelands, where bodies were sent to final rest, to lie beneath rain and teardrops. There are more than 6400 so counted now. Hail and farewell, you dead whom we cannot honor with a gift of more life; let us drape your memorials with tears.

Six years ago, tonight, we opened the Walk of the Fallen—the Labyrinth itself, not this blog. Upon that night, we lit a fire, I put on my very old Army Class A uniform and those simple ribbons and awards I was entitled to wear, and I went out to read a list of the dead from the Iraq War. I had not yet begun writing the names of those fallen in Afghanistan.

The Labyrinth began as a form of mourning and protesting a war I thought unjustly begun, based upon lies. The war in Afghanistan, at least then, struck me as having more plausible cause. I had just over 400 names that night, and besides the list in my hand, each of those was written upon a luminaria glowing in the dark around the circuits of the Walk. Pagan friends and family were with us that night as the full moon appeared and disappeared behind heavy clouds. A young trumpeteer came and played “Taps” at the end and the clouds wept upon the stones in finish.

The second year, there were over 1100 dead, in Iraq alone. And in 2005, I listed 2500+ names on tiny slips of card-stock, slipped them into glass test tubes and mounted them on a wall behind plexiglass frames. That was the last year I opened the Walk to the public on Veterans’ Day…and nobody came at all.

The year Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, I quietly stung beads, one per dead troop and hung them upon the monument. The following Memorial Day, I wrote names and added strands for the troops that had died in Afghanistan.

So it has gone since. I keep the books of the dead—Americans and Coalition troops from the effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. At each new moon, I look at the totals and when a full 200 more bright lives have been snuffed out, I string shining beads and carry them to the center stone. Weekly, I walk each newly released name within, and pour a libation upon the stone and wish them peace and justice.

In winter now, the beads will reside inside for shelter from the wet and bitter cold; some of the more fragile beads shattered and I have re-strung and replaced half the strands. They hang by my altar and indoors or out, remind me of the debts of a nation not nearly grateful enough for the courage and fortitude of its military men and women.

I will soon add more beads, including beads for those who died at Ft. Hood this week. For although the Army will not count them as casualties of the wars, they certainly would not be dead if those wars were not ongoing.

My praise and honor to the men and women of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard! May your God(s) keep you and bless you with all good things, or if the fortunes of war so fall out, may they take you to whatever eternal home comforts you and bring solace to your survivors.

The newest counting/prayer strand goes on the central stone of the Walk tonight as the full moon lights the clouds above me making a livid bruised sky with showers of tears from above. When, I wonder, will I see an end of stringing beads with little “centurion” skeletons for every hundred dead? Some nights, it is just harder to walk there, carrying a string of tears and prayers and loss.

I am too sleepy to be coherent. But the Labyrinth altar and the center monument were washed clean for the memorial reading of ALL the names since the wars began in 2001. More later…for now, the picture only of the freshly washed prayer/counter beads on the cleaned monument.

This last weekend did not go as I had originally planned.  It began well enough, with a Friday evening on the shore, watching kites, birds, sailboats and passing couples in love.  It began with sunlight splendor on the water, and plans for meeting women for a party.  But then, the unintended took over.  Friday night I tossed is a sweat-soaked bed in pain because those soft evening breezes on the beach chilled my damaged and titanium-clipped neck.  Soon, the muscle spasms spread to mid and lower back.  Saturday morning I despaired and sent my “Not coming, busy writhing.” note to friends.

I was exhausted and ate and went back to bed, still hurting.  Lying down eased the pain and I slept.  I had wild and wonderful dreams.  I woke feeling energized, if still recognizing the need to move carefully and less than usual.  I got out my bead box.  I am not the craftiest person on earth and feel artistically impaired most of the time.  But a friend’s daughter had a birthday and money being tight, I was determined to create something worthy without going broke.

I found beautiful strands of peacock colored freshwater pearls in my little chest of shiny delights.  Never used because the drill holes in these pearls were so tiny my needles wouldn’t pass, on impulse I picked up the nylon beading cord and found it went through the holes with no needle!  Soon, I had a beautiful pearl necklace lying before me—and by happy coincidence made of the birthstone of June.

I couldn’t stop with the birthday necklace.  I took tiny loose seed beads and made a necklace to hold a jet and crystal bee given to me by a beloved teenager…it looks like silvery nectar with bits of pollen and evokes the hive to this one-time-beekeeper.  Then I made a necklace of smoked quartz rounds, long owned and never used….they feel like little wheels of change against my throat! The color evokes every sabbat fire every burned here….this Smoke of Many Fires necklet is a magic thing.

When my back twinges, I rest, I nap, I eat.  I use a prayer strand recently made at our women’s circle; I realize how perfectly these beads could be merged with candle magic.  I am feeling a strange bliss rising over the pain in my back.  And Saturday night I dream of my Gods, I hear the pipes and bells that connote Herne for me and wake before dawn on Sunday with an image of Him coming as Lover, wrapped in barbed wire that will pierce me and pain me.  But that wave of bliss overrides it all, and for the first time in my long life of chronic pain, I realize I am not fighting the pain.

I rise, I make a new prayer bead strand for use in many justice issues.  Its beads are brown and red-orange and the pendant is a tiger-striped glass heart.  My back still aches, but I feel NEW.  I run my hands over my own face, neck, skin feeling tangibly different and I marvel at the transformation that came in the night like dreams, but stayed into daylight.  And then I know something I have not said to myself before.

Pain is not my stopping point.  Pain is my starting point.  Pain is not my enemy; it is the lover that reveals ignored places in myself.  It is not my ruler, nor need I conquer it.  It sits beside me on my life’s duet and half the beauty of my life springs from that source.  It is the brier to my rose.  It blunts my thorns like I softened the edges of thorns on my rose-cane wand and makes manageable the sharpness that is me.

Tiger-hearted prayer beads….made out of pain and bliss, for calming the savage beast inside and releasing the battle to be won.

America has seen more caskets coming home—but at last, at least, we do see them on the news that so chooses to cover their last homecoming.  (As always, photographs of the fallen and other information can be found by going to the Main Page(walkofthefallen.com) and hitting the “Links” button)

U.S. Army Sgt. Devin C. Poche, 25, of Jacksonville, N.C., died in Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip A Myers, 30, of Hopewell Va, died  in Afghanistan of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.

Cpt. Vasile-Iuliu Ungaras, 32, of Romania, died in Afghanistan of an IED attack.

Cpt. Tiberius Petre, 33, of Romania, died in Afghanistan of an IED attack

U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel J. Beard, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y., died  in Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

U.S. Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, 28, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, died in Iraq, of wounds sustained when a mine detonated near him during combat operations.

U.S. Army Spc. Adam M. Kuligowski, 21, of Arlington, Va., died  in  Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Stephen F. Dearmon, 21, of Crossville, Tenn., died  as a result of a non-hostile incident in  Iraq

PFC Azdin Chadli, 20, of the Netherlands, died in Afghanistan from the wounds caused by a rocket attack.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Blaise A. Oleski, 22, of Holland Patent, N.Y., while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan

That time again, the moon is waning away….and with it, alas, more lives.  Lift a cup in commemoration and commiseration with the loved ones in mourning.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick A. Malone, 21, of Ocala, Fla., died in Iraq as a result of a non-hostile incident.

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Theophilus K. Ansong, 34, of Bristow, Va., was lost at sea Feb 4 while  assigned to USS San Antonio (LPD 17) as it conducted operations in the Gulf of Aden while supporting the war in Iraq. (No idea why it took the Navy SO long to report this death.)

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy L. Bowles, 24, of Tucson, Ariz.,  died in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an IED.

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Archie A. Taylor, 37, of Tomball, Texas, died  as a result of a non-hostile incident in Afghanistan.

The following three U.S. Army men died in Afghanistan as a result of an IED explosion…the same one, I believe, as killed the Air Force sergeant—same date and identical location:

Sgt. Christopher P. Abeyta, 23, of Midlothian, Ill.

Spc. Robert M. Weinger, 24, of Round Lake Beach, Ill.

Spc. Norman L. Cain III, 22, of Oregon, Ill.

U.S. Army Spc. Gary L. Moore, 25, of Del City, Okla., died  in  Iraq, of wounds sustained when an explosive device struck his vehicle.

Cpl Mathew Hopkins, 21, of Australia, died in Afghanistan in hostile small arms fire.

Cpl John Dean, 25, of the United Kingdom, died in Afghanistan in an IED explosion.

Cpl Graeme Stiff, 24, of the United Kingdom, died in Afghanistan in an IED explosion.