DaveFoster
08-08-2007, 01:15 PM
>FRIDAY MORNING AT THE PENTAGON
>
>//Here is something the media should be ashamed of for their
>indifference, and especially the New York Times conglomerate, which
>includes The Lakeland Ledger. Imagine this happening every Friday for
>four years and not one word of coverage by the media -- shame on
>anti-Americanism practiced by brain washed slaves for money. /
>
>By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY McClatchy Newspapers
>
>It's that time of year again. Memorial Day weekend is the beginning of
>summer fun for most Americans, and as I've done before in this space,
>
>I want to pause to take note of the real reason there is a Memorial Day.
>It's meant to honor and pay our respects to those Americans who've given
>their lives in service to our nation, who stand in an unbroken line from
>Lexington's rude bridge to Cemetery Ridge to the Argonne Forest to the
>beaches of Normandy to the frozen Chosin Reservoir to the Ia Drang
>Valley to the sands of Kuwait to the streets of Baghdad.
>
>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
>yearlong 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 Web site.
>
>"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.'
>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? The media hasn't told this story.
>
>
>//Here is something the media should be ashamed of for their
>indifference, and especially the New York Times conglomerate, which
>includes The Lakeland Ledger. Imagine this happening every Friday for
>four years and not one word of coverage by the media -- shame on
>anti-Americanism practiced by brain washed slaves for money. /
>
>By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY McClatchy Newspapers
>
>It's that time of year again. Memorial Day weekend is the beginning of
>summer fun for most Americans, and as I've done before in this space,
>
>I want to pause to take note of the real reason there is a Memorial Day.
>It's meant to honor and pay our respects to those Americans who've given
>their lives in service to our nation, who stand in an unbroken line from
>Lexington's rude bridge to Cemetery Ridge to the Argonne Forest to the
>beaches of Normandy to the frozen Chosin Reservoir to the Ia Drang
>Valley to the sands of Kuwait to the streets of Baghdad.
>
>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
>yearlong 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 Web site.
>
>"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.'
>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? The media hasn't told this story.
>