The Final Salute

Yesterday, I received a chain e-mail at work that recounted excerpts of a fantastic article that I read BB (before blogging) about a year ago.

The article details how Major Steve Beck, United States Marine, approaches his task of notifying families that their son or daughter has been killed in action.

Here is one of the opening paragraphs:

"Each door is different.

"Some are ornately carved hardwood, some are hollow aluminum. Some are protected by elaborate security systems, some by loose screen doors.

"During the past year, the 40-year-old Marine major in the white gloves has stood at the front doors of homes in three states, preparing to deliver the message no family wants to hear.

"It is a job he never asked for and one for which he received no training. There are no set rules, only impersonal guidelines. It is a mission without weapons.

"Steve Beck trained to fight as a Marine, winning accolades as the most accomplished marksman of his class - a man who later earned two master's degrees in a quest to become a leader on the battlefield. He had hoped to deploy during the Persian Gulf War and definitely thought he would get his chance this time.

"Instead, he found himself faced with an assignment that starts with a long walk to a stranger's porch and an outstretched hand. It continues with a promise steeped in the history of the Corps that most people associate only with the battlefield:

"Never leave a Marine behind."

The story is astonishing.

Although the article was from the Rocky Mountain News, they seem to have archived it in a way that makes it hard to read. Their link is here.

I would suggest reading a reprint of the article over at the Font Man blog here.

And then taking a look at the photo gallery here.

My assistant at work served with the army in Iraq and she told me a little about life at one of the military camps there. She said that whenever someone at the camp is killed, all phone calls, e-mails and regular mail is shut down for 48 hours to give people like Major Beck the opportunity to get dressed, make the drive and the long walk up to the family's front door. That way the family hears the news in person - directly from the military and not through the "grapevine".

The chain e-mail I received was encouraging people to wear red on Fridays as a non-partisan show of support for our troops.

Snopes has some good info on the movement as does Wikipedia.

From what I can tell, the movement is best understood as being similar to people in your town or city donning sports jerseys for their local baseball or football team on game days. Your team is taking to the field and by sporting a sports-T you are acknowledging the game and hoping that your team wins.

Our troops are definitely in the field and we certainly hope they win. Wearing red seems like a good idea - as Snopes points out though, actually doing something tangible like sending the troops a Christmas card or other things they want or need would probably be better.