Capt. Richard J. Gannon II
I want to talk about the true cost of this war in Iraq.
Simply put, the true cost is the young men that our country are losing. This April, a fraternity brother of mine from Cornell was killed on the Syrian border. Rick was a lieutenant then, he was promoted posthumously. He went into a house where two of his men were pinned down, and the enemy mortared the house. He died a hero.
But Rick was a hero before he died. At Cornell, he was the scrawny little guy who you looked at and laughed, "Fricking eh, no way is he gonna make it through the Marine Corps." But when Rick was committed to something he was committed for life. Just ask his wife Sally who he met in high school and married after college and his commissioning. Just ask his four kids aged 12, 6, 5,and 2. Three boys and a little girl, who are now without a father. These articles say it better than I can - here, here and here
This was a gentleman, a scholar, and a Marine, and a guy who knew when to cut loose and knew when to get serious. He had a smile that infected everyone, even when his lower lip was packed full of chewing tobacco, which it often was. We all thought the tobacco would kill him, silly us.
So, I'm not gonna lecture about whether I feel the war is just or not. I frankly don't give a damn about semantics. All I care about is that we do everything possible to make sure as many of our boys and young ladies nowadays come home safely. For those poor families who lose husbands, fathers, wives and mothers in this war, I encourage you to give to the Fallen heroes fund.
Rick is lucky because a lot of us knew him and loved him. At least, two or three funds are set-up for his family. Two funds are managed by friends from the Marine Corps and their wives and one by his fraternity brothers.
As for Rick, all I can say is "Thank you for being who you were, and your brothers from Cornell will take care of your family. So take it easy up there and have a beer and a chew with Jesus for us. By the way if you could put in a good word or two for Bogel and Fox it would be appreciated. (that's an inside joke for Rick)"
Simply put, the true cost is the young men that our country are losing. This April, a fraternity brother of mine from Cornell was killed on the Syrian border. Rick was a lieutenant then, he was promoted posthumously. He went into a house where two of his men were pinned down, and the enemy mortared the house. He died a hero.
But Rick was a hero before he died. At Cornell, he was the scrawny little guy who you looked at and laughed, "Fricking eh, no way is he gonna make it through the Marine Corps." But when Rick was committed to something he was committed for life. Just ask his wife Sally who he met in high school and married after college and his commissioning. Just ask his four kids aged 12, 6, 5,and 2. Three boys and a little girl, who are now without a father. These articles say it better than I can - here, here and here
This was a gentleman, a scholar, and a Marine, and a guy who knew when to cut loose and knew when to get serious. He had a smile that infected everyone, even when his lower lip was packed full of chewing tobacco, which it often was. We all thought the tobacco would kill him, silly us.
So, I'm not gonna lecture about whether I feel the war is just or not. I frankly don't give a damn about semantics. All I care about is that we do everything possible to make sure as many of our boys and young ladies nowadays come home safely. For those poor families who lose husbands, fathers, wives and mothers in this war, I encourage you to give to the Fallen heroes fund.
Rick is lucky because a lot of us knew him and loved him. At least, two or three funds are set-up for his family. Two funds are managed by friends from the Marine Corps and their wives and one by his fraternity brothers.
As for Rick, all I can say is "Thank you for being who you were, and your brothers from Cornell will take care of your family. So take it easy up there and have a beer and a chew with Jesus for us. By the way if you could put in a good word or two for Bogel and Fox it would be appreciated. (that's an inside joke for Rick)"
posted by Cousin Don at
7:31 AM
1 Comments:
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