A great story about the war that the news wont share with us.

[reneediaz]

Someone posted this in a group of mine and I was very moved by it.  I think that this is the best story that I have heard in a while about the war.  As a Army wife this really touched me!  I wish the news would tell is so everyone would know that there are good things out there.

 

My dad is currently serving his second year in a war zone in Iraq. He is suppose to be coming back April next year. He emails me everyday and sometimes I get to talk to him on the phone but he sent this to me about an hour ago and it really touched me I just wanted to share this with everyone.

I hope you feel the warmth and happiness I felt inside while I was reading this.

Friday Mornings at the Pentagon
                           By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
                                  McClatchy Newspapers

Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force
personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that is war.
Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded and facing
months or years in military hospitals.

This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and former
roommate, Army Lt. Col. Robert Bateman, who recently completed a yearlong
tour of duty in Iraq and is now back at the Pentagon.

Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known ceremony that fills
the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon with cheers, applause
and many tears every Friday morning. It first appeared on May 17 on the
Weblog of media critic and pundit Eric Alterman at the Media Matters
for America Website.

"It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the Pentagon.
This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the floors shine, the
hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At this instant the entire
length of the corridor is packed with officers, a few sergeants and some
civilians, all crammed tightly three and four deep against the walls.
There are thousands here.

This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The G3
offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All Army.
  Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not have seen
each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each other, cross the
way and renew.

Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains down the center. The air
conditioning system was not designed for this press of bodies in this
area.

The temperature is rising already. Nobody cares. "10:36 hours: The
clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the outermost of the five rings of
the Pentagon and it is closest to the entrance to the building. This
clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is applause with a deep emotion
behind it as it moves forward in a wave down the length of the hallway.

"A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of the
soldier in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his presence. He is
the first. He is missing the greater part of one leg, and some of his
wounds are still suppurating. By his age I expect that he is a private,
or perhaps a private first class.

"Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his gaze and
nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago when I
described one of these events, those lining the hallways were somewhat
different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private guilt for not
having shared in the burden ... yet.

"Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in the
wheelchair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause, but I think
deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The soldier's chair is
pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.

"Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come more of
his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as need be by a
field grade officer.

"11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My hands hurt,
and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my own head. My hands
hurt. Please! Shut up and clap. For twenty-four minutes, soldier after
soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25, 30. Fifty-three legs come
with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or arms, but down this hall came
30 solid hearts.

They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then meet
for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor, hosted by the
generals. Some are wheeled along. Some insist upon getting out of
their chairs, to march as best they can with their chin held up, down this
hallway, through this most unique audience. Some are catching
handshakes and smiling like a politician at a Fourth of July parade.  More than
a couple of them seem amazed and are smiling shyly.

"There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old war-bride
pushing her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not quite understanding why
her husband is so affected by this, the boy she grew up with, now a
man, who had never shed a tear is crying; the older immigrant Latino
parents who have, perhaps more than their wounded mid-20s son, an
appreciation for the emotion given on their son's behalf. No man in that hallway,
walking or clapping, is ashamed by the silent tears on more than a few
cheeks.  An Airborne Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see. A
couple of the officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of this
parade in the past.

These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are our
brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on, every single
Friday, all year long, for more than four years.

"Did you know that?

The media hasn't yet told the story."

[Connors.Mom]

Mar. 16, 2008 at 11:50 AM As I sit here with tears in my eyes, I too wonder why they never thought to share something that has such meaning.  Our men and women overseas have given so much and it's wonderful to know that they recieve such a touching welcome.