Two Stars in the Window

Family Service Flag

It will be eight years this coming July when we had two Blue Stars in our home's front window in Annapolis - a bridge between the continuum of a single blue star for nearly eleven years - we are a military family. Michael, out for more than seven years now, was in his last year of duty at Arlington National Cemetery - Tim was just beginning his military duty at the U.S. Naval Academy, and now has been a Naval Aviator for more than a year. The times then and now stand out when we get to see them together, are special, even when only by text message or in photographs.

Service brothers - Portland 2014

This weekend, Tim's squadron flew a cross-country exercise to Portland - I can imagine what it looked like to him as he approached PDX, but on his own. That provided the opportunity for our daughter, her family, and Mike to drive up and see him. Mike joining the Army had a great influence on Tim - was a significant contributor to his choosing to go to the Naval Academy and be a naval officer. Both have a bond, two of a special band of brothers - a continuation in the line of other family service members. These two continue to have a great influence on us and the rest of the family - pride.
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As a side note: Tim gave our grandson Jace a Navy flight suit for his fourth birthday - size appropriate. Normally, this should not be have been all that notable, other than Jace was anxious when he drove with his folks and Tim to the Portland airport to see the E-2 Hawkeye - he thought if he wore the suit, he would have to fly the plane. Nice photograph by Dan Kuttel - lots of other aviation shots for viewing on his Flickr site.

Procession - Memorial Day 2012

 

Procession

The pavement passes underneath our feet,

Along with patches and blankets of leaves.

We walk, following Staff Sergeant Adam Dickmyer,

Carried away from the chapel –
A winding funeral procession.

The colors of the red stripes and blue field of stars,

Always clear to see – always far ahead.

The sounds of the drum cadence, 

The songs the band plays –

Muffled, not much louder than the wind

Blowing through the trees.

The soldier’s wife, at the arm of her escort.

For all the times visiting Arlington,

Never having walked the length of the cemetery,

The peacefulness of the place was palpable.

Emotions changed often, 

As the rising and falling hills and swales. 

To the sides, rows of tombstones,

Walking beside histories

Recorded on white marble.

As if in a dream, ahead are the Stars and Stripes.

An undulating sea of dark blue uniforms, 

Trimmed with red and gold.

Bobbing covered heads, 

Most with short-cropped hair.

Coveted blue shoulder braids – the Infantry –

Many a Tomb Guard Badge fixed to right pockets.

Young men's faces looking straight ahead.

Horses drew the caisson to Section 60 –

The resting places for those who gave their lives 

The last nine years.

Now the Casket Team bears its honor – 

their former commander.

Standing close, shoulder-to-shoulder, 

Many sergeants,

The Old Guard, 

Infantrymen, 

Buglers and drummers,

Young and old, different home towns,

At the grave, showing their last respects,

Giving their support –

All brothers, all soldiers.

Distant observers

Volunteer Patriot Guard Riders in their ranks,

Stand watch at a distance,

Showing respect for fallen heroes,

Shielding grieving families from disruptions,

Some from North Carolina,

Adam's home state.

The flag folded,
Twenty-one gun salute fired,
The sound of the lone bugler's taps faded away,
All the solemn on-lookers have dispersed.
The young widow, now alone.

The widow's escort, still standing watch – 

A two star general,
So high a rank for an enlisted soldier, honored.

Where the living stand among the fallen.

The headstones here blend into the rest,

From all our Nation's wars –

Lines of tombstones in the distance,

Marking 300,000 graves across 600 acres,
But this one acre today is the saddest of all.

They walk away after the ceremonies –

150 marched and walked and rode here together,

Now leave at their own pace,
With their dreams, their memories, their thoughts, their fears, their anxiety,

From the place of remembrance for this generation.

A generation of all volunteers,

Like my sons.

Among the many graves that wait,

William Spates.

A former Tomb Guard, like Adam, 

He was killed in Vietnam.

His headstone stands watch

As the sentinel on the Plaza that hour stands his watch –
Walks the mat –

His honor walk for the Unknowns,

As Spates and Adam did in years past.

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Staff Sergeant Adam Dickmyer was killed in Afghanistan October 28, 2010 - he is remembered this Memorial Day. Above are impressions and photographs recorded from Adam's funeral procession at Arlington National Cemetery, November 17, 2010. Previous links remembering Adam can be found by clicking here, and here. Other Memorial Day postings can be found by clicking here, here, and here.

Others like these soldiers walked and worked and lived with those who are remembered in Section 60. Unlike the Veterans of the Vietnam War, they do not have to wait 20 years to have a place to gather and remember their fallen friends. But just as the names inscribed on the wall pile up above your head as you walk down into the earth at the Vietnam Memorial - here the names on the grave markers expand weekly across the acres of green plains and rolling hills of Arlington, in what is called the Field of Honor.

Immigrant Song - Memorial Day 2011

There are no formally recognized holidays memorializing immigrants - an Immigrant Day. There is the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty - The New Colossus, that is put to music, but no day for immigrants. I had an English translation of an article from a German language newspaper that an ancestor of mine (1) wrote - it was published in Milwaukee back in the early 1900's and described his  

26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment flag

coming to America in the 1840's and settling on a piece of land in Wisconsin - Laura Ingalls Wilder-esque Little House in the Big Woods. In the article there was brief mention of him going off to war and returning, written as a matter of fact - he obviously was a Civil War veteran. He must have been one of the volunteers from Wisconsin - perhaps a part of the 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment that mustered in Milwaukee on September 17, 1862 and fought at Gettysburg. The 26th Regiment is honored by a monument on the grounds of the battlefield. It is not surprising that there were German language periodicals in the early 20th Century, given that both my mom in Wisconsin and dad in California still spoke German at home until they went to elementary school in the late 1920's and early 30's. The English that my relatives spoke back then, was probably heavily accented by their German roots - just as immigrants today are recognizable by their first languages or the accepts they keep a well.

Arlington National Cemetery is one of the places in the Washington, D.C. area that we have grown to appreciate the most since moving here. The names on the white headstones are a reflection of the peoples who live in our country, most of whom or whose families came at one time or another from places across seas and over borders - even those from the Native Nations (2), who 10-thousand years ago crossed into North America over a land bridge from Asia, before there was geography, maps, and borders. Two areas of Arlington that carry a particular part of our history, are Sections 23 

USCT on headstones in Section 27

and 27 that honor the first African American immigrants who fought for our country during the Civil War - who came to our country against their will over a century earlier. On these tombstones are inscribed the letters USCT - United States Colored Troops, three of whom were Medal of Honor recipients.  Frederick Douglass saw a dilemma if African Americans were to wear the uniform of the United States without emancipation. He said to Abraham Lincoln and others, "Once you put upon the black man the blue uniform, once you put upon him the 'U.S.' saying 'United States,' once you put brass buttons on him and a cap and give him a rifle and give him a pistol and make him a soldier of the nation and send him off in battle to defend the nation and also to help preserve the Union, once you have done that, then no power on Earth can deny the full rights of citizenship in due course."(3) 

We made our first visit to the cemetery the day after Christmas in 2003 when Michael was finishing his Tomb Guard training - it was his last day as a New Man. We walked from the parking area through the Visitor Center to Eisenhower Drive, and then up the road towards

PFC Naseeb Masood - WWI Veteran

McClellan's Gate (4). As we walked past the rows of head stones on McClellan Drive, on the right was one whose inscription caught my attention: Naseeb Masood - a name that is not exactly Johnson, Smith, or Jones. Given the era of his campaign, WWI, and his home state, Pennsylvania, it struck me how long a time Middle Eastern people have been a part of the country and served in our military. Not unlike a German emigrant from Wisconsin who served three wars earlier - perhaps in Pennsylvania, rather than in Europe, where his foes there would have been in times future his countrymen, his relatives.

Gallery at Women in Service Memorial

The diversity of names stand out among those who have served - Chanawongse, Gonzalez, Tran, Bonifacio, Monsoor, and Witkowski - names that in the countries of their origin may have been as common as Johnson, Smith, and Jones - whose faces reflect the nations of the world that now call the United States home. So just as it was 150 years earlier when Fredrick Douglas made his observation about the dilemma of the rights for citizenship for those former slave emigrants who then served with the U.S. emblem on their uniform, and when my ancestor went off to war in a land that was his for only a short amount of time, and so it is with those who are new to American shores, regardless of their mode of their arrival or the accent of their speech - who are all now called citizens. (5)
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(1) I lost my copy of the translation, but my uncle in Hilbert said that because of the time period, the author would have been an ancestor of my maternal grandmother - my maternal grandfather's family (the ones with the homestead dairy) did not immigrate until the 1880's. A note: it is my understanding that my grandmother corresponded (in German) with relatives in Germany up until WWII began - my uncle visited some of those relatives after the war.

(2) Ira Hayes, one of the the Marines depicted in the Marine Corps Memorial raising the flag at Iwo Jima, was of the Pima Tribe and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

(3) From the Website for the B Company 54th Mass Vol Inf Regiment Washington, D.C.

(4) There was construction going on near where Roosevelt Drive intersected with Eisenhower Drive, so the longer walk to the Amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknowns was by way of McClellan Drive. For a map of Arlington National Cemetery, click here.

(5) Immigration and Nationality Act 329A - Posthumous citizenship through death while on active-duty service in the Armed Forces during World War I, World War II, the Korean Hostilities, the Vietnam Hostilities, or in other periods of military hostilities.

Rememberembrace - Memorial Day

Rememberembrace- November 17, 2010

Lost to a War, But Not Unknown

An article about Adam Dickmyer's funeral appeared in the Boston Globe newspaper on November 23. In the article the writer, Kevin Cullen, mentioned the connection of Adam to the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy, and how the the Senator's doctor's nephew - an Army Captain, along with Mrs. Kennedy, attended the funeral. I appreciated what Cullen wrote, so sent him an email last night thanking him. He wrote back today. Below is my note, and his reply - followed by the article - Lost to a war unknown. There are always stories behind the stories - these are no exceptions. (1)
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November 29, 2010

Dear Mr. Cullen,

Thank you for your follow-up article to the funeral of SSG Adam Dickmyer at Arlington National Cemetery. Our son served with Adam for three years at the Tomb of the Unknowns - his loss was close to home for us. I appreciate you mentioning the Army connection to the Kennedy's family through the Senator's physician, as well as Mrs. Kennedy's attendance. You may not know, but another attendee of the funeral was SSG Salvatore Giunta, who the day before was presented the Medal of Honor. My understanding is that the Tomb Guards had helped him shape up his uniform for the presentation at the White House, and later the day of the funeral, his induction into the DoD Hall of Honor at the Pentagon - he walked unnoticed with the mourners from the chapel to the Section 60.

There are many ways that those in the military support one another. Thank you for your support of our troops through good articles such as you wrote about Adam.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Steiner
Annapolis, MD
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November 30, 2010

Thanks.
Dr. Ronan called me when his nephew told him about Adam being KIA.
He asked me to write something to recognize Adam, and I'm glad I did
because it reached a lot of people, and Adam was, like so many of our
people in the military, the best of us.

Cheers
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Lost to a war unknown
By Kevin Cullen
Globe Columnist / November 23, 2010

For six years, Army Staff Sergeant Adam Dickmyer was a “sentinel,’’ one of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

He was one of the elite Old Guard, the select soldiers who, in rotation, bear silent witness every minute of every day, in all kinds of weather, honoring the unknown soldiers who died on foreign battlefields.

It was something he took seriously.
 

Dickmyer spoke to Robert Poole for Poole’s book, “On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery,’’ which was published last year. He explained the Old Guard’s mission with a poignant simplicity.
 

“We want the guys who sacrificed everything to know that they are still remembered, that someone still cares,’’ he said.
 

Sometimes, his duties took him away from Arlington. Dickmyer was lead pallbearer for Senator Ted Kennedy last year. He was with the casket every step of the way, from Hyannis Port to the Kennedy library to the Mission Church. Tens of thousands of people from Massachusetts and beyond would have seen Dickmyer or passed close to him, but they wouldn’t have known who he was.

Hundreds of thousands would have watched him over the years at the Tomb of the Unknowns as he faced the tomb for 21 seconds then marched 21 steps, a ceremony of remembrance practiced over and over again. But none of those tourists would have known his name.
 

Dickmyer was part of one of the most distinguished units in the Army. Less than 20 percent who try out make the Old Guard. Still, he volunteered for combat duty, leaving the Old Guard for the Second Battalion of the 502d Infantry Regiment, Second Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. In June, his unit arrived in Afghanistan for a yearlong deployment. On Oct. 28, Dickmyer dismounted from his armored vehicle and was on foot patrol in Kandahar when a hidden bomb exploded, killing him. He was 26.
 

He was just the third sentinel killed in action. Two others, Staff Sergeant William Spates Jr. and Sergeant Marvin Franklin, were killed in Vietnam.
 

Dickmyer was the first of five soldiers out of Fort Campbell in Kentucky to be killed in Afghanistan in five days. The day after he died, Specialist Pedro Maldonado, 20, was killed by grenades and gunfire. A day later, Specialist Brett Land, 24, was killed, like Dickmyer, by an IED.
 

Four days after Dickmyer was killed, a guy on a motorcycle drove up to the Second Brigade’s base. Specialist Jonathan Curtis, 24, a great kid who grew up in Belmont, and Private First Class Andrew Meari, 21, were on guard duty and stopped the motorcycle, preventing it from entering the base. In doing so, they saved many lives, but lost their own when the guy on the motorcycle detonated the explosives he was wearing.
 

The war in Afghanistan is the ultimate war of the unknown soldier. So few Americans have their own flesh and blood in harm’s way. So few think of the war on a daily basis. The war trundles on, unknown to so many.
 

They remembered Jonathan Curtis in Belmont Sunday, and last week they remembered Adam Dickmyer, the face of the unknowns, who had been seen by so many and known by so few, at the cemetery where he stood in silent witness before he went off to war. Dickmyer’s cortège was escorted by Army Captain Mark Boyle, whose uncle, Larry Ronan, was Ted Kennedy’s doctor. Ted Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, was there, too, as Dickmyer’s widow, Melinda, accepted a tightly folded flag.
 

“It is he who commands the respect I protect, his bravery that made us so proud,’’ the sentinel’s creed reads. “Surrounded by well-meaning crowds by day, alone in the thoughtful peace of night, this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance.’’
 

Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com.
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(1) Rex Looney has posted photographs from the day of the funeral on his Flicker site, as a part of the memorial portfolio to Adam. No doubt there are more stories behind these photographs - beyond the captions that Rex provides. A personal photographic narrative account of the impressions from participating in a funeral procession can be found by clicking here.

Memorial Day

ARLINGTON

FIRST CANTO

I saw his name engraved in granite

In the shadow of the ivy covered oak

a long time tenant in that sacred grove

The wind moves now and then through

barren branches

A bird alights sometimes, as if by chance,

It chirps and then flies on

all else is mute

The marble tomb nearby wear night and day

the sentries, stand with steadfast vigilance

it bears no name.

During the changing of the guards

at preset daylight hours

Upon command the sentries spring to life

and to action

They walk with slow, precisely measured steps

clicking their heels at certain intervals

toeing the line invisible

across expanse of marbled ground

presenting arms and slapping rifle

Flawless in execution and procedures

flawless in bearing and attire

one is the perfect mirror to the other

down to the last detail: just so, no more, no less

Their buckles shine, The honor badge is gleaming

The are the heroes of the Old Guard Regiment

Instant obedience and discipline

thus manifest, are but reflections

on inner core of strength, esprit and gallantry

submerging self for Cause and Greater Good.

(attained by very few)

The changing of the guard has been accomplished

The last command has been obeyed

The guard now on duty now enters his station

Stands at attention over the tomb

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

SECOND CANTO

The people come from far, here to these

hallowed hills to witness and be cast

in ceremony. They stand in silence

and they stare with awe,

They think of their solemn thoughts with

somber eyes,

Transported by the mesmerizing ritual into

the Presence of a Greater Truth and Order

and brushed by the gentle wings of Destiny,

they seem to hear faint echoes stirring

from the vault of sky and time

evoking visions in their souls and puzzling

memories of what? from where?

Thus paying tribute to the One Unknown

(and with him to the many like him

whose burial mounds and crosses are

stretching far below The Tomb)

They sense that he who sacrificed his life

Decades ago nay centuries was

Now exalted.

(and with him the many like him)

exalting Gallantry and Honor, Honor and Valor.

Spectators in this Shifting scene on

Patriotic state, the people leave

Reluctantly, the Nations Shrine still Pondering.

They wander down the soddy path

They speak in muffled tones, shuffling

Their feet before they exit slowly

Through the Outer Arch.

THIRD CANTO

I saw his name engraved in granite

enlaced with ivy from the nearby tree

I plucked a spring of living ivy

And took it home with me

planted in a pot of earth

upon my window sill

the climbing vine has taken root

and it is greening still

Your body may be buried

you may be long since gone

but cherished memories of you

and your name lives on.

I stepped out of my cabin door

and looked up at the sky

I saw a golden eagle soar

I heard the eagle cry

The eagle soared into the sun

and was soon lost from view

The spirit of the unknown one and you.

FOURTH CANTO

Down through the corridor of Time

The eagle sounds its piercing cry

keening over all the fields

where the fallen warriors lie.

Their tattered uniforms and bones

have Mildered in their narrow grave

White crosses bear a name and date

so young and all so brave.

Through countless wars in global spots

they fought in air, on land and sea

They paid the price, they gave their life

so others could be free.

They fought chaotic battles

To victory or defeat

and now they lie in long, long rows

orderly and neat...

A bugle in sunsets glow

is sounding Taps from far away

Soon now the winds of night will blow

And tomorrow is another day.

EPILOGUE

The Stars and Stripes wave on the ridge

High above Arlington Bridge

in between are stretched the grounds

with all of its heroes earthen mounds

From up high the spirits chide

Forever shall our Flag abide

In Freedom Honor – Valor

by Ruth Mariott (1)
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The Sentinel's Last Walk

Millions of visitors to Arlington National Cemetery view the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A ceremony that is seen but by a select few is the Last Walk of a Sentinel. Only fellow Tomb Guards, family, and close friends may attend the last tribute by a sentinel to the Unknowns when the guard has finished his tour of duty at the Tomb. The final ceremony to honor the Unknowns then takes place after the last Changing of the Guard for the day. The guard takes his last walk - has he has hundreds of times before - walks towards and enters the plaza (a), is inspected one last time to ensure the uniform is perfect (b) - perfection is all that can be offered back to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, walks onto the mat in perfectly prepared shoes (c), walks the exact 21 paces in each direction, pauses exactly 21 seconds after each change in direction, and finally passes on his orders to the next guard for the last time (d). After exiting the plaza and returning to the quarters below the plaza, the guard returns with an armful of roses (e) while a bugler stands and watches and waits (f) - roses instead of a rifle, one each for each of the Unknowns (g) - and gently places one at each resting place, followed by a salute. After placing the last rose, there is a final salute while taps is played a last time (h). The sentinel then exits the plaza and walks for the last time back to the quarters below (i), with all attending standing in perfect silence, watching, knowing the guard's service at the Tomb is complete - having done what his country had asked him to do, ended by a final tribute to those who not only gave their lives for their country, but who also gave up their identity.
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(1) Ruth Mariott, author of the poem "Arlington" passed away on July 11, 1997, shortly after learning that her poem had been published in the Congressional Record after it was read by Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. She received a military funeral with the Old Guard rendering honors. Adapted from information given at the Website: http://www.reddok.com/KC130/arlington.htm

Just a Little Hospitality

As I merged onto Route 50 on my way to work this morning, I noticed a hearse in my side mirror coming up from behind in the middle of the three lanes. I now drive my new Prius for economy mileage by using the heads-up display gauges in the dashboard, so I don't accelerate like I used to - there is nothing like getting 55 miles to the gallon. As the hearse passed me, I saw a flag draped coffin inside, and following close behind was a dark Ford Focus - likely a military escort I thought - I didn't feel like listening to the rest of the long version of Creedence Clearwater's Susie Q on the XM Satellite radio station I was tuned into. I turned off the radio and pulled in behind the subcompact Ford, what was likely a rental. There was no need to go my typical 75 miles per hour - 69 would do fine - I had a good idea where they were heading, west on Route 50 towards Washington. It was like I had seen this before.

I am usually slow wanting to see new movies. For me, it is such a big commitment to get into the plot, get to know the characters, and figure out whether their chemistry is going to work. It was the same way when I caught glimpses of advertisements for HBO's Taking Chance, I didn't have a clue what that movie was about - another military story. There may have been mention of Taking Chance on the Naval Academy Parent's list serve, I don't really remember, but by the weekend it was to show on television, I wanted to see it.

Taking Chance is a gut breaker. I sobbed off and on throughout the entire movie, and have watched it four or five times since then. I am getting better at handling it emotionally - but still not all that much better - Jan asks me each time from another room why I keep torturing myself - she doesn't want to watch. [1]

The hearse and trailing car stayed in the center lane most of the 15 miles from Annapolis, through Bowie, and to I-495 - I stayed close behind, close enough to see the Delaware license plate - that made it more likely they had come from Dover Air Force Base. I had known of Dover, but when the first clandestine photographs of flag-draped coffins coming in from Iraq hit the news, I began to understand what the base represents. When our Army son was first posted at Fort Myer, he made a couple of "Dover Runs" in Blackhawk helicopters to escort fallen soldiers from Dover to Arlington - that was before he was assigned to the Tomb of the Unknowns - these soldiers where Knowns. By now, there have been many similar escorts to all points of the country - to date, 5127 fallen service men and women have been received back in the U.S.

If not for Taking Chance, I would not have fully grasped what I caught a glimpse of when I first got on the freeway. But the methodical detail of the journey Lance Corporal Chance Phelps made from Iraq to Dubois, Wyoming is fixed in my memory for life - a hearse, the flag, a trailing rental car, now me following - like the cars and trucks in the movie: not in a hurry, not wanting to pass, a part of a procession, but not with my headlights on - it was just a little thing I could do. As we got to the Beltway interchange, the hearse and I merged into the lane to Richmond, I-495 S. I could tell that the escort was a little panicked by the way he kept looking back over his right shoulder for a way to pull back in behind the hearse - I briefly saw a young soldier with close cropped hair in his Class B Dress Uniform. I slowed down and held up the cars behind me, making space between the hearse and me so the escort could slide in between us. As he fell in behind the hearse, I made my next merge to the I-495 N lane as the two others continued in the south-bound exit, pretty much confirming they were likely headed to Arlington National Cemetery - me, I was on my way to Beltsville.

The meaning of the word hospitality in Greek is to show kindness to strangers. That is what I thought about when I was following behind the short procession in front of me. Two strangers I will never know: one a fallen soldier and the other an Army escort; me not rushing to work, quietly following, yielding to a car needing to keep pace, a soldier doing his duty as his Nation asks him to do, on their way to a quiet place for rest.

The detailed story of Chance Phelp's journey written by Lt. Col. Mike Strobl (USMC, ret.) can be found here.

Information about the Chance Phelps Foundation supporting veteran and Gold Star families can be found here.

Be sure to watch the movie Taking Chance, it is out on video. You can view the movie trailer here.
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[1] Since this posting, we have had closer encounters with this subject: A soldier our son (shown above) served with at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was killed in Afghanistan on October 28, 2010; we and our son attended his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery; our son suffers from PTSD - partly triggered by his friend's death; and my wife watched most of Taking Chance about six months ago. December 18, 2011.