Apache Gunship Downed: Two Friends Die
It was the middle of the night at Camp Taji when she called. She was crying. “Mom. Are you there? I need to hear your voice,” she said. “I just needed to hear your voice.”
“I’m here, Tommi,” I said in return. “I’m here,” and I waited. Then again, “I’m here. Will talking help or is the connection enough?”
“The connection’s enough,” she said, still crying but now without sound. “…can’t say much … communications blackout.”
And I knew what that meant: a soldier on base had been lost and contact with "the outside world" was supposed to shut down until families could be informed. I waited and then slowly, carefully asked, “Was it someone you knew?” Silence. Then.
“Mom, remember my friend, Savannah? the pilot? She’s home on leave right now. She’s safe at home right now.” Then she cried again. She cried, and I held her as best I could from the other side of the planet. And as I write this bit of story about a soldier/daughter at war and the wrenching pain she felt at a loss and almost loss, I’m remembering the soldier/son of another mother huddled under a blanket in Ramadi, finding a some(other)where in a video game to go because he can’t call home from where he is – can’t “hear a voice” from home, and that maybe there are no other answers just then for why a friend died, and it hurts me to think of him so alone, to think of so many who must need a voice from home.
“I’m here, Tommi.”
The Washington Post ran the story this morning of an AH-64 Apache downed about 10 miles northwest of Taji – both crewmembers on board killed. BBC News included an image of an Apache fighter with their report. I am reaching out to a mother at home who has gotten the news by now.
posted by Mary Godwin @ Tuesday, June 28, 2005
2 comments
2 Comments:
oh this is heartbreaking. when is it going to stop??? why don't these lives mean anything to the people running this show??? why isn't THIS murder??? because it's a solider, why isn't this murder?? because of "war"?
After more than 100 hours of travel, and less than 36 hours at home, Jet lag had yet to be defeated. It was 3:56 AM in Minneapolis, which meant in my mixed up Circadian rythyms, it was it was 12:56 PM in Baghdad. How could I not be wide awake watching CNN when I should have been asleep next to my wife? The scroll on the screen said far too little. Apache down in Taji. As much as I want to pretend that Baghdad isn't there for the next 2 weeks, my thoughts are immediately at the same place Tommi's are. When was She getting back? Is it Her? We both know many Apache pilots, and it is likely someone we have at least met, but IS IT HER?!?!?!?!?! I am ashamed at the relief I feel when I find it is not. I wonder if I will ever not feel ashamed. Will the joy of suvival ever surpass the guilt of survival? For the next 2 weeks, I will try to feel joy. I just need to shut off the TV.
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