September 19, 2003
Reality Check
The LTC and the Chaplain invited me to a fallen soldier memorial at 4/27 FA. A young soldier named Kevin Kimmerly was killed by an RPG a few days before.
It's Army tradition to have a last roll call at a soldier's memorial. They call out roll and soldiers answer with "here" as their names are called. When they came to Kimmerly, there was no reply. His named was called twice more, answered only by the quiet sobbing of his fellow soldiers.
For the first time, I feel very far away from home. This isn’t a movie. It’s real. These guys aren't just names and numbers in the newspapers. Here, away from the loudness of the media, you begin to feel that this has very little to do with home. It's another reality with another set up rules. The worst is that war, if you want to call it that, begins to feel normal. The Iraqis go about their business--life doesn't stop, it can't.
When the memorial was over, the chaplain told me that he's been asked to come up with a format for memorials--a reality that few want to think about.
