From the publisher: A time to remember our wounded

Published 10:51 pm Saturday, May 31, 2008

Commentaries have been written since the beginning of the Iraq War of how we do not see the body bags of our war dead. The planes with flag-draped coffins are unloaded far from the eye of the camera. One of the last figures I saw was 4,083 killed.

We might not see the body bags on CNN but every community in this country is made very aware of a loss when the person killed comes from one of our communities … then it becomes personal.

Like thousand of others, I was made aware of the personal side of this war during the Memorial Day Concert and tribute from Washington, D.C., on public television. The thousands of people in attendance sat as the music played waving their little American flags. Most did not notice the special guests of wounded soldiers on the front row. That was about to change. Three actors, one man and two women (Denis Leary, Gail O’Grady and Caitlin Wachs), portrayed an Army sergeant, his wife, and a private’s wife. The sergeant was a part of a squad of 12 men who served together in Afghanistan. These men had all trained in Germany where they lived with their wives. These soldiers and their families became closer than many blood relatives.

Not long after arriving for duty in Afghanistan another squad called for help from deep in one of the mountainous areas. One soldier at the control post was killed and the sergeant went up to retrieve the body. He was successful in getting him out but it was necessary to return to the area to get maps and radio equipment. As he got to the location he was hit by enemy fire in his leg … the pain, he said, was almost too much to bear. He felt as if he was losing it when he looked down and saw the face of a 21-year-old private from his squad coming his way with a stretcher … “hold on, Sarge, I will get you out.” The last thing he remembered before arriving back in Germany was the eyes of his friend as he reached out to help him.

A few weeks later, after the sergeant was moved to the hospital in Washington, he learned that the young private had been shot by a sniper … one bullet to the kidney, one to the lung and one to the spine. He was alive but barely. He was moved to San Antonio as doctors worked to save his life. His 8-month pregnant wife sat at his bedside holding his hand. The sergeant back in the Washington hospital told his wife, “They need you more than me … go there.” The sergeant’s wife was there with the private’s wife … her “battle buddy” as she called her … when life support was removed from the 21-year-old Army private who saved her husband’s life. Two days later, the private’s wife gave birth to a son. The sergeant’s wife had held her hand during her 18-hour labor. A few days later, the young widow held her newborn baby, while her “battle buddy,” and the sergeant laid her husband to rest.

As these actors completed this very moving portrayal they stepped from the stage and walked down to the front row and hugged and kissed the sergeant, his wife, his friend’s wife and her 8-month-old son. As the crowd saw on the big screens what was happening, they began to rise to their feet. With that it became very real why we wave the flag … not just a reaction of what we do when we hear patriotic music but rather it gives reason why we can stand and honor our country and its flag. The people like Staff Sergeant John Faulkenberry and PFC Chris Pfeifer and their wives, Sarah and Karen, deserve the respect and support of our nation. They represent the 4,083 who have died, the 29,978 who have been wounded and the thousands of family members who are left with memories and years of healing.