This story is about the nephew of a friend of mine from high school. I thought it was extremely well written. RR
Haunting images accompany soldier on final ride home
Wednesday, December 1, 2004
By Sherman R. McGrew Copyright © 2004 Republican-American
It was a cold night, and a difficult one too. Sgt. Joseph Michael Nolan, U.S. Army, was coming home. It was not the type of homecoming his family had wanted. For Sgt. Nolan had made the supreme sacrifice for his country in a far away place called Fallujah, Iraq.
I was part of a police honor squad, detailed Monday to escort Sgt. Nolan and his family back to Waterbury from Bradley International Airport. It was a solemn ride and a time for reflection, especially for someone like myself, recently returned from Iraq. I kept thinking that there but for the vagaries of fate, luck, circumstance and, quite literally, the grace of God, go I.
It was biting cold on the tarmac at the airport. The Army staff sergeant escort from Dover Air Force Base disembarked from the plane. We waited in the cold as inside the aircraft the casket was draped with the flag Sgt. Nolan had sworn to protect and defend. As the flag came into view, we came to attention and presented arms. The sergeant's family stood nearby.
I think that any of us who has worn a uniform, whether it be military, police or fire has the same thought at this moment, "This could easily be me. That could be my family. Thank God they didn't have to go through this." And then, almost instantly, the realization that the man you are there to honor, his family, is going through it. And you resolve to do your best to honor him and his sacrifice.
Some images will stay with me forever: the sergeants first class forming the honor guard as they carried the sergeant from the plane; the police officers nearby presenting arms; the pilots, who, probably former military themselves, had come down onto the tarmac in tribute to a fallen comrade; the 1st Cavalry Vietnam vet and airport employee there to honor one the Cavalry's own; the ride back along Interstate 84, Waterbury police motorcycles clearing the way in the freezing cold; the police, stopping traffic at each intersection for the procession; and the final salute as Sgt. Nolan was borne into the funeral home.
Those were haunting images.
There are those who will question Sgt. Nolan's death. "Was it necessary?" they will ask. "Was it a waste? What was it for?" I can't even begin to fully answer those questions, but in a very simplistic way I will try.
He was an American fighting man, as the Code of Conduct tells us, serving in the forces which guard our country and our way of life. He was prepared to give his life in their defense. He never forgot that as an American fighting man, he was responsible for his actions, and dedicated to the principles which made his country free. He trusted in his God and in the United States of America. You will either understand this, or you won't.
And it was in his blood. You don't have a Marine Corps father who served in Vietnam and a Navy grandfather who served at Iwo Jima without learning something about service to your nation. Duty, Honor, Country -- it runs in families.
We brought you back to Waterbury today, Joey. You are almost home. I know with every fiber of my being that God will welcome you the rest of the way. You have earned it, Sgt. Nolan, you have earned it.
9:24:39 AM 
|
