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Salute for a fallen Marine at Logan
By adamg on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 9:49am
Daniel Weintraub files this report:
Last night a fallen soldier, escorted by 2 active Marines was returned to Boston on my flight from Atlanta. The casket was received with full honors outside the gate by the Massport FD, Local State Troopers, Local Marines, and of course the family. Heartbreaking scene. A good 1/4 of our flight stood and watched with respect from the terminal as the casket was unloaded.
Would anybody know who he was?
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Comments
Maybe
Maybe http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x2069500193...
Seems quite likely-- the
Seems quite likely-- the family expects to get the body this weekend, according to the article.
he was an american marine
he died for his country in a senseless war.
So who is he then, since you
So who is he then, since you clearly know who he is and when, where and how he died.
Must be nice
Keep calling strikes from the cheap seats, son.
That LC was going through a war you'll never know. He was doing his job and it took his mind and, eventually, his life. If he was killed on the battlefield, at least some folks back here would have considered him a hero. Now people who have no idea what he went through are going to throw around words like "weak" and "coward."
Bullshit. That boy took on a burden that would cripple men twice his age. I would have been proud to serve with him. You should worry about how to help guys like him when they get home, not just debate his war or pictures of his casket.
No New Englanders in the casualty reports lately
I scan the DOD RSS feed for casualty reports, and I haven't seen anything recently (just looking back to the beginning of May) that would suggest who this Marine was. But most casualty reports are a few lines long at most, and may not convey the full nuance of where someone was from.
Home of Record vs. Home Town
Many career military personnel list their base community as their "home of record" and not, necessarily, where they grew up. If you are married with kids and have a house off base, this will likely be the case.
Also, this might not have been a combat death. Deployment is stressful and people do die of heart attacks, strokes, etc.
If you're recording it...
...as it appears people in the reflection are doing, is that really watching "with respect"?
Not everything needs video evidence.
This is my picture. Although
This is my picture. Although you can't tell from the photo, it was taken after the formal precession had concluded. The casket had been loaded into the hearse, and it was preparing to the exit the gate. It was at this point that myself and those around me felt it appropriate to share this terribly sad moment with our loved ones, and to remind them how lucky we are to have brave men and women serving us and our country in the armed forces.
Call it what you will, but a picture can be worth a thousand words.
Not yours to share
That sentence was apparently worth two cliches. RIP Donna Summer.
Push off
It's not like they asked to pose with the casket, you pompous ass. Recording the return of a fallen soldier into something as immortal as a photo is probably one of the most respectful ways to commemorate their service to the very freedom to take that photo. How else will the rest of us fully appreciate that one soldier's plight if not to be given a way to see it for ourselves? You can easily be respectful and a photographer.
I
wasn't referring to guy who took pic.
I mistakenly thought a spectator was recording (with video cam on phone) the very solemn event. The photog corrected me. Settle down.
But did that 'bring it home'?
Given the response in the comments, that answer is no.
Most of the folks here think LC Ronner died in combat. They talk about the "plight of the soldier." They have no fucking clue.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/military-death-at-camp-pendleton-probed-as-suicide/article_63437a29-42e0-5656-ad56-d03c18670b45.html
You have guys pulling multiple tours, suffering fatigue and taking SSRIs just to get through. Top that with mood-altering malaria meds and you have an armed force of ticking time bombs. Remember Staff Sergeant Bates? The guy who was on his fourth tour despite suffering traumatic brain injury? The one who shot up 16 civilians in Kandahar? People think he's an exception and not an example.
This picture is the problem, not part of the solution. People don't care until there's a flag on a coffin, then they stand and salute and forget about it minutes later. While people are on message boards debating the wars or urging people to "support" the troops and vets (HA! "Thank you for your service" is nice to hear, but treatment and funding for that treatment is a lot better), you have guys like this really suffering every day.
I'm glad you think your little cell phone picture from within the cozy comfort of your little Nerf ball world really "brought it home," but you have no idea what "home" is. Home is pain, home is thinking about the buddies you left behind, home is people arguing over burgers 18 hours after you just saw a car blown to shit with a family inside it. The only thing this picture has to do with home is the part of the image nobody's seeing: Civilians looking at military through a thick, far away lens of glass before going on with their travels. THAT's what comes home in that little snapshot.
My deepest condolences to LC Ronner's family. He was stronger than you know and stronger than any investigation will ever reveal. I'm very sorry for your loss. The world is lesser without him.
It was for Lance Corporal Michael J. Ronner
http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/...
A wonderful person.
Thank You
for sharing
A wasted life.
I'm a former service member. These wars are senseless. And don't counter with any patriotic crap.
Funny
Some would call a life lived without helping guys like LC Ronner a "wasted life." You should sleep soundly each night knowing you'll never have to know his pain. People think "ultimate sacrifice" means charging up a ridge and taking fire or some John Wayne war nonsense.
No, LC Ronner's ultimate sacrifice and that of every other multiple deployment Marine and soldier is the sacrifice of a "normal life." Their minds, if not their bodies, are forever shattered. Their divorce rates and rates of drug and alcohol abuse post-service are through the roof. Their worldview is forever altered. Try spending a day Christmas shopping after you've seen what they've seen. The shallowness will sicken you.
There are guys in programs and in VAs right now who are completely isolated. They'll never acclimate to this "real" world again and they're absorbing things at 20 and 25 that most people will never see in their lifetimes.
"A wasted life." It's only a "waste" when the people outside don't care about it or use it as some fun little political prop.