thedrifter
08-17-07, 08:45 AM
Too easy to forget we're really at war
August 17, 2007
JERRY DAVICH
It's easy, sometimes too easy, for us to conveniently forget there's a bloody, deadly, controversial war taking place across the globe in Iraq.
Oh sure, we watch TV footage; we breeze through news accounts on our way to the sports section; we see daily carnage and barely pause to reflect; and we're well aware of the anti-war protests calling for its end.
Yet for most of us the war is usually low on our list of daily thoughts, such as work, kids, bills, entertainment, relationships, our looks, our lawns, etc.
But lately I've been in contact with an old friend who's serving the U.S. Air Force in Iraq, and he's been kind enough to share "unclassified" glimpses of his hot days and lonely nights there.
I've known Donn Taylor since middle school and he's the only childhood friend I keep in contact with. A Gary native, too, he lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two daughters, and he again volunteered for duty overseas.
I receive Donn's regular
e-mails from half a world away in mere minutes, which still amazes me. His first missive in mid-July told me how safe his air base seems to be, surrounded by tough-as-nails Marines.
"The Borman Expressway is WAY more dangerous than this place," he wrote.
He later told me "a lot of people here are convinced we're making a difference," echoing what I hear often from soldiers serving in Iraq since 2003.
In another e-mail, he wrote: "I went out last night with a night vision scope to watch the meteor shower. I literally saw hundreds of shooting stars. … It was too amazing."
A few days later he wrote, "Only about 5 weeks to go. Not bad, going to the gym, sleeping and working. Not much else to do."
At that point, it seemed as if Donn was on a National Guard training stint somewhere safe. At that point, I began to forget Donn was even in a war zone.
And then I got an e-mail snapping me back to reality: "Five marines here died in a helicopter crash today. That place, I went through it today ...
Donn reminded me. I'm reminding you. We're at war. Oh yeah.
Come sail away
So here I am again writing about Gil Hancock, the 80-year-old mini-sailboat maker from DeMotte who's been getting more ink than a drunken sailor at an all-night tattoo parlor.
But Gil and I are still getting readers' letters since he dropped a few of his mini-sailboats into Lake Michigan with $2 bills and, essentially, messages of "Hello out there!"
One letter came from Kelly R., a Crown Point woman who enjoys boating with her boyfriend, Chuck B.
"Your story had me crying and laughing at the same time," she wrote to Gil.
Kelly told Gil she owns a 53-foot Carver Voyager vessel and "we would be honored to take you and your family for a ride anytime. P.S. I'm not crazy, I promise!"
Gil, I'll bet you never guessed your little sailboats idea would have touched so many people, huh? P.S. Don't be crazy. Take Kelly up on her offer.
Elvis is dread
Hey, guess what I did Thursday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death? Yep, the same thing I did on each of the 29 previous anniversaries -- absolutely nothing.
No tears. No candlelight vigil. No "what if he lived … " sighs.
The man is dead. Only his music should live on. Not the cult of his personality.
Adam 12, Adam 12 …
To continue my occasional column feature, Scanner Traffic Snippets, echoing what I hear on the newsroom's ever-buzzing police scanner, here are two more recent dispatches. "OK, let's first find out who Bubba is." And, "I don't know if this is a 10-50 (vehicle accident) or not until we get up out of these cattails."
So, who's Bubba and where are these cattails?
We're burning daylight
Finally, a friendly reminder: Each day the sun sets about a minute earlier and our daylight hours are getting squeezed thin by Mother Nature's grip. Before we know it, we'll be returning to those dark days of fall and then winter, wondering what we did with all that summertime daylight.
I suggest you make a conscious effort, very soon, to take advantage of these dwindling minutes and erase any regrets later this year.
Maybe take your kids to a park until the sun disappears behind the trees. Or sit at the beach with friends and watch it sizzle into the lake. Or simply, and solely, be aware of the daylight possibilities before they sneak away like thieves in the night.
For the record, you've been reminded.
Contact Jerry Davich at 648-3107 or jdavich@post-trib.com
Ellie
August 17, 2007
JERRY DAVICH
It's easy, sometimes too easy, for us to conveniently forget there's a bloody, deadly, controversial war taking place across the globe in Iraq.
Oh sure, we watch TV footage; we breeze through news accounts on our way to the sports section; we see daily carnage and barely pause to reflect; and we're well aware of the anti-war protests calling for its end.
Yet for most of us the war is usually low on our list of daily thoughts, such as work, kids, bills, entertainment, relationships, our looks, our lawns, etc.
But lately I've been in contact with an old friend who's serving the U.S. Air Force in Iraq, and he's been kind enough to share "unclassified" glimpses of his hot days and lonely nights there.
I've known Donn Taylor since middle school and he's the only childhood friend I keep in contact with. A Gary native, too, he lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two daughters, and he again volunteered for duty overseas.
I receive Donn's regular
e-mails from half a world away in mere minutes, which still amazes me. His first missive in mid-July told me how safe his air base seems to be, surrounded by tough-as-nails Marines.
"The Borman Expressway is WAY more dangerous than this place," he wrote.
He later told me "a lot of people here are convinced we're making a difference," echoing what I hear often from soldiers serving in Iraq since 2003.
In another e-mail, he wrote: "I went out last night with a night vision scope to watch the meteor shower. I literally saw hundreds of shooting stars. … It was too amazing."
A few days later he wrote, "Only about 5 weeks to go. Not bad, going to the gym, sleeping and working. Not much else to do."
At that point, it seemed as if Donn was on a National Guard training stint somewhere safe. At that point, I began to forget Donn was even in a war zone.
And then I got an e-mail snapping me back to reality: "Five marines here died in a helicopter crash today. That place, I went through it today ...
Donn reminded me. I'm reminding you. We're at war. Oh yeah.
Come sail away
So here I am again writing about Gil Hancock, the 80-year-old mini-sailboat maker from DeMotte who's been getting more ink than a drunken sailor at an all-night tattoo parlor.
But Gil and I are still getting readers' letters since he dropped a few of his mini-sailboats into Lake Michigan with $2 bills and, essentially, messages of "Hello out there!"
One letter came from Kelly R., a Crown Point woman who enjoys boating with her boyfriend, Chuck B.
"Your story had me crying and laughing at the same time," she wrote to Gil.
Kelly told Gil she owns a 53-foot Carver Voyager vessel and "we would be honored to take you and your family for a ride anytime. P.S. I'm not crazy, I promise!"
Gil, I'll bet you never guessed your little sailboats idea would have touched so many people, huh? P.S. Don't be crazy. Take Kelly up on her offer.
Elvis is dread
Hey, guess what I did Thursday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death? Yep, the same thing I did on each of the 29 previous anniversaries -- absolutely nothing.
No tears. No candlelight vigil. No "what if he lived … " sighs.
The man is dead. Only his music should live on. Not the cult of his personality.
Adam 12, Adam 12 …
To continue my occasional column feature, Scanner Traffic Snippets, echoing what I hear on the newsroom's ever-buzzing police scanner, here are two more recent dispatches. "OK, let's first find out who Bubba is." And, "I don't know if this is a 10-50 (vehicle accident) or not until we get up out of these cattails."
So, who's Bubba and where are these cattails?
We're burning daylight
Finally, a friendly reminder: Each day the sun sets about a minute earlier and our daylight hours are getting squeezed thin by Mother Nature's grip. Before we know it, we'll be returning to those dark days of fall and then winter, wondering what we did with all that summertime daylight.
I suggest you make a conscious effort, very soon, to take advantage of these dwindling minutes and erase any regrets later this year.
Maybe take your kids to a park until the sun disappears behind the trees. Or sit at the beach with friends and watch it sizzle into the lake. Or simply, and solely, be aware of the daylight possibilities before they sneak away like thieves in the night.
For the record, you've been reminded.
Contact Jerry Davich at 648-3107 or jdavich@post-trib.com
Ellie