Pat Said
Because comments in response to posts made here can "hide" behind links left unexplored, I want to highlight one I received from Pat today. Pat, you may remember, is the Master Sergeant who works with Tommi at the gate. Pat does not imagine himself a "good writer" and was, in a first comment, powerfully reluctant to "go public" with his thoughts. His writing here today both surprised and reassured me, and Pat ... if you're reading this, thank you again. I am encouraged and deeply moved by what and how you've written.
said...
Mary, once again your insight is amazing. Tommi and I have talked at length about the insulated world we live in, and the emotional numbness that sets in after a while in these kinds of environments. She didn't believe me at first, but I think now she understands. This is not my first experience like this, the kind of experience that so few understand, and that you just can't communicate to those who haven't walked it. I was a Marine who turned 21 in Guantanamo Bay Cuba, 22 on an Aircraft Carrier within veiw of the Beruit skyline.I was a soldier who turned 32 sleeping on the floor of the olympic ice arena in Sarajevo Bosnia, and 35 in a plywood shack in Kosovo. And I turned 40 in Iraq. At the Gate. My friends and family try to understand this life, and I let them pretend they do. I smile and shrug my shoulders and say the words they want to hear. But so few understand. It's not about freedom, or patriotism, or any larger concepts like that. When the trappings of our existence are stripped away, when our life is about the next 10 seconds or the next patrol of the next rocket, who we are is stripped bare. Souls are exposed. Weakness can no longer be hidden by the right words. The core of your being is a secret to no one around you. Tommi will come home. Sometimes, on a summer night, she will stare quietly across the lake and not say a word. Let those moments be. Touch her on the shoulder and let her have the silence. Tomorrow, after she reads this, she will tell me I am wrong, that won't be her. But I know better.
posted by Mary Godwin @ Thursday, April 14, 2005
1 comments
1 Comments:
Mindy, I am SO glad you went with your heart and wrote this work at Pat's urging. I feel your pain at the misplaced sensibilities with regard to the questions of what and when to celebrate/ what and when to mourn. This is some of what I was trying to say in my last post ... I don't think that state-side folks have an easy time of knowing how to sort this out. And, though I can only feel this from a distance, I feel real empathy for the sense of "being left behind," and I join you in believing this is so wrong, not to mention so misrepresentative: there are women right NOW serving in combat zones. We both know that, but if the MOS reads in a certain way, then a woman is restricted in the name of the wishes of the American people. I think there's some catching up to do on the military side, and maybe this war will be the time it happens. Women don't need to be left behind anymore. I can feel your heart ... at least I think I can. I don't know if you follow other blogs, Mindy, but I found a blog started by a woman counting down to deployment at this site ... A Female Soldier's Story. You might enjoy adding this one to your watch list. Again, I'm glad to have met you though this venue. Keep us posted as you go, Soldier. And thank you for your service to this country. -mg
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