Mettle of Honor: Part III Heroes of the 3rd LAR Co. D 2nd Platoon 2006

On July 29th 2006 in Rawah, the platoon was at their base-of-the-moment, a joint Iraqi/US vehicle checkpoint, and those off duty were taking a brief respite in their quarters. Iraqi Police guarding the gate let a loaded gasoline truck into the compound.

LCpl Tony Butterfield and Cpl. Phillip Baucus had been around long enough that their internal radar went off. Suspicious of the truck, they ordered it to stop. When the driver ignored them, Butterfield and Baucus went into action. The two Marines used everything they had to stop a fuel truck rigged with explosives, and they succeeded in forcing a stop 15 feet from the barracks.

The suicide bomber detonated the truck but Lance Cpl Butterfield and Cpl Baucus had prevented him from driving it straight through the walls of the barracks, which would have killed everyone inside as well as those around it.

Lance Corporal Anthony E. Butterfield, 19, from Clovis, California, and Corporal Phillip E. Baucus, 28, from Wolf Creek, Montana were killed in the explosion, giving their lives to save their comrades.

When the blast occurred, it collapsed the walls of the fortified barracks and the roof came crashing down on the men inside: Lance Cpl (then PFC) Jason Hason, 21, of Forks, Washington; Sgt. Christian B. Williams, 27, from Winterhaven, Fla., and on his third enlistment with the Marines, Lance Cpl Joseph T. Hand, 20, from Kansas City MO, and Cpl. Adam A. Galvez, 21, from Salt Lake City.

The suicide bomber was not alone, and a firefight broke out after the blast.

Corporal Galvez was knocked out and when he came to, Lance Cpl. Albert D. Garcia, Jr. was working to lift the rubble off of him.

Staff Sgt. Jim Goodwin reported:

Galvez told Garcia that he believed his ankle was broken, but when Garcia went to get help, Galvez freed himself from the rubble, ignored his pain, and tried to help others injured from the blast, according to Garcia.

“He grabbed his weapon, hobbled around, he helped me dig the rest of the Marines out,” said Garcia. “Even after help got there, Doc Kenyon had to force Cpl. Galvez to get (medically evacuated) on the vehicle.”

Despite frantically digging out the trapped men as quickly as possible, they were unable to save two of those inside: Sgt Christian B. Williams and Cpl Jason Hanson, who were killed by the falling roof.

The 3rd LAR held a memorial service for the four Marines on Aug 10, 2006.

Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield left behind a last letter for his family to read should he not make it back home. Friends in his hometown said "Butterfield was popular, but kind to those who weren't." He was remembered by Pfc. Gary M. Cassen as:

“Outgoing, enthusiastic, loving, caring, honest, thoughtful, courteous, honorable, sensible and humorous.” Butterfield ... had this big vision about getting off the bus, jumping over a fence, running through a crowd pushing people over, and running straight into his mom’s arms,” said Cassen during the ceremony.

"Butterfield had a list of goals he wanted to achieve before leaving the service, which included teaching junior Marines about the LAV (Light Armored Vehicle), run a near-perfect physical fitness test, become a martial arts instructor, and take as many correspondence courses as
possible, according to Cassen. Cassen [closed with]: “We love you buddy, and we’ll miss you.”

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus was serving his second tour of Iraq (his first was in 2004) when he was killed. He and his wife, who met in the 6th grade, would have celebrated their first anniversary on August 19, 2006.

"[Cpl. Benjamin T. Bosse remembered ] Baucus as a good friend and loving husband, who did a “damn good job” when it came to teaching junior Marines the in’s and out’s of the Marine Corps.

"Baucus’ teachings to his subordinate Marines still shows today, as those very same Marines “are still alive,” said Bosse. “He knew what hard work was…not only on the job, but off the job,”

“It didn’t matter who you were, whether you needed a place to go on Thanksgiving or you just needed to get off base, he was the guy who’d get you off (base), because he saw Marines as ’24-7,’” said Bosse. “He was always willing to go the extra mile.”

Sgt Christian B Williams had enlisted for his third term of service after only a few months of civilian life following the end of his second term. He was engaged to be married to a young woman who graduated Marine Boot Camp in April 2006. The son of a Navy man, Williams' mother said "He was Marine to the bones". He served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and five in Iraq.

A quiet man, he had been with the platoon only a short time and had already earned respect from his brothers in arms.

" Cpl Bosse was Williams’ “gunner” on a light armored vehicle. [He remembered Williams as a friend and Marine.]

"Williams often volunteered to stand the dreaded “turret watch,” which required Marines to stand guard duty behind one of the machine guns mounted to the eight-wheeled light armored vehicle. He did so to give junior Marines a break from the duty.

“He’d actually jump up in there and stand two hours, three hours, four hours, it didn’t matter,” said Bosse. “He kept to himself, but he was a Marine, and he was a friend. He... had a good heart.”

Lance Cpl Jason Hanson (then PFC, he was posthumously awarded the rank of Lance Corporal) was unscathed by a bullet to the chest in June thanks to his body armor. He had also survived 3 car accidents in Iraq.

Hanson's mother said "It took the whole universe coming down to stop him."

[Hanson] was remembered as a “tough and hard-working Marine, who never complained about anything,” said Pfc. Travis J. Henzler.

"Henzler said he knew Hanson “a little over a year,” though it “felt like a lifetime.”

"“The only time I heard Jason complain was when he got shot in the chest, but even then he wasn’t afraid to take point and risk getting shot again,” said Henzler, speaking to the assembled crowd while the fallen’s dog tags could be heard ‘clanking’ together, caused by the light morning breeze."

Cpl Bosse said of the four Marines: “They all gave their lives for one thing – for love of their country and for the men and women back home who will never understand why we do it.”

When the memorial service was over, the platoon saddled up again and went back to work thwarting insurgents and searching for roadside mines.

Cpl. Joseph T. Hand was hospitalized briefly following the blast. “I don’t remember hearing the blast,” said Hand. “I just remember the roof collapsing and thinking about my parents and my girlfriend.”

“He found his way back to us and went on patrols even while he was still hurt,” said Cpl. Jonathan G. Almeida, 21, from Beeville Texas

Cpl. Adam A. Galvez was also injured in this attack and after he assisted with rescuing the other trapped Marines, he was medivac'ed to hospital.

While recovering in Al Asad [hospital], [Galvez] was given the chance to return to the United States. He declined and insisted on rejoining his platoon. [Galvez] returned to Rawah on August 10th, in time for the memorial service for his four friends. After taking it easy for a few days, [Galvez] requested to join his platoon. [He] returned to Delta Co. 2nd Platoon as a scout.

Ten days later, the Dragoons' luck with roadside IEDs ran out.

Mettle of Honor: Part V Heroes of the 3rd LAR Co. D 2nd Platoon 2006

Appendix: This post is number 5 (posted first, to read first to last.). It links articles about the Marines killed in action, and about the 2nd Platoon's 2006 deployment to Iraq.

Links to the series of all 5 posts:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon


Articles About These Marines Who Gave Their Lives For Liberty:

• Twentynine Palms, Calif.-based Marine unit memorializes four killed in action in Iraq
• Marines in Iraq memorialize two Marines, sailor killed just weeks after deaths of four others from same unit
• Eight Heroes Remembered

Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield, a 19-year-old from Clovis, CA:Legacy Guest Book

• http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/butterfieldanthonye.html
• http://www.theyhavenames.com/heroes/adam_galvez.html
• http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/20/local/me-butterfield20
• Butterfield's last letter: "If you're reading this..."

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus, a 28-year-old from Wolf Creek, Mont:

• Legacy Guest Book
• http://iraq.pigstye.net/article.php/BaucusPhillipE
• Cpl Phillip E. Baucus, Marine
• http://www.montanaforum.com: Baucus

Sgt. Christian B. Williams, a 27-year-old from Winterhaven, Fla.:

• Legacy Guest Book
• http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2006/08/lake_region_grad_always_planne.htm
• http://www.theledger.com/article/20090524/NEWS/905245033
• Unit Memorializes Four Killed In Action
• http://www.marinechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13631
• http://www.iraqwarheroes.com/williamscb.htm

Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson, a 21-year-old from Forks, Wash:

• Legacy Guest Book
• http://wamarinesmc.us/wammc/index.php?topic=234.0
• http://www.libertyunites.tv/tribute_v5573-us+marine+jason+hanson.html
• http://www.rememberjasonhanson.com/pdf/bodyarmor.pdf
• http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006608080303

Cpl. Adam A. Galvez, a 21-year-old from Salt Lake City:

• Legacy Guest Book
• http://www.myspace.com/adamtwinkie
• http://www.adamgalvez.com/hisstory.html
• http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=105422820&blogId=319383976
• U TUBE: Cpl Adam Galvez, Remarks by President Bush
• http://www.theyhavenames.com/heroes/adam_galvez.html

Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman, a 21-year-old from Bend, Ore.:

• Legacy Guest Book
• http://www.landstuhlhospitalcareproject.org/Honorees/Randy%20L.%20Newman/Ra
• ndy%20L.%20Newman.htm
• http://gazingattheflag.blogspot.com/2006/08/walk-with-god-lcpl-randy-newman.html
• Marines Memorialize Two Marines and Sailor Killed Just Weeks After Four Others

Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon, a 20-year-old from Tucson, Ariz.:

• Legacy Guest Book
• In Honor of Chadwick T. Kenyon
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/news/iraq/profile?rpp=50&sort=service&ord=DESC&o=46&term=&listoffset=40
• http://iraq.pigstye.net/article.php/KenyonChadwickT

Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris, a 23-year-old from Las Vegas, New Mexico:

• Legacy Guest Book
• http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2006/09/shane_patrick_harris.htm
• You Tube: In Memory Of Fallen Marine Shane P. Harris
• http://www.militarytimes.com/valor/soldier/2085646/
• http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/external/fmmac2.mm.ap.org/war2/state_county.php?SITE=NMALJ&State_County=N.M.

Articles about the 2006 deployment of the 3rd LAR, Company D, 2nd Platoon

• 7/24/2009
• http://www.marines.mil/unit/1stmardiv/Pages/JAN0818.aspx
• 10/9/2006
• Gains in Al Anbar in jeopardy due to troop shortage
• 10/8/2006 (Written October but publication delayed for security reasons) Coalition Forces wrapped up a counterinsurgency mission along the Euphrates River in western Al Anbar province late last month.
• 3rd LAR returns to MCAGCC, greeted by wounded buddy
• Capture of suspect in July 29 truck bombing
• 9/5/2006
• 8/26/2006
• 7/28/2006
• 7/18/2006
  
• 7/7/2006
• 7/5/2006Situation in Ramadi, Al Anbar
• 7/2/2006Situation in Zella, Al Anbar
• 6/13/2006
• 5/26/2006
• 5/22/2006
• 4/15/2006
• 4/13/2006
• 4/7/2006
• 4/7/2006
• 4/6/2006
• 3/7/2006

Mettle of Honor: Part I Heroes of the 3rd LAR Co. D 2nd Platoon 2006

A mother of sons sees them as heroes from their babyhood. We want our boys to grow to be men, to be brave, sincere, faithful, to have the strength of will to overcome fear and win the day. A mother of sons also prays over their cradles that there will be no war when they come of age, that they will never have need to exercise the valor that is in them.

When Ethan went to war, the whole thing became a-political for me. If I had my own opinion before, it vaporized when he told me he'd enlisted. I don't understand how people think they can "support the troops" without supporting the cause they serve, and that includes supporting the fearsome things they have to do and suffer and cause in order to protect the country and way of life that allows people to choose an opinon and freely protest.

I couldn't watch the news without obsessive worry so I had to just not watch it. Ethan said there were websites for the families where photos were posted but when I looked, I couldn't find them back then. I trusted President Bush, and I trusted in God.

I didn't know what to pray while he was there. It was war - so many terrible possibilities existed that I couldn't bear to think of for even long enough to pray about. I found myself praying he and all those with him would come home with mind, spirit and soul intact.

Ethan served two tours in Iraq with the Marines 3rd LAR, Company D, 2nd Platoon, including one extended tour, and he came home safely.

On the second, in 2006, they were wrapping up, only weeks from coming home with no losses, when events caught up with them and Delta Company's hurt started: with two IED attacks, six Marines and their Navy corpsman were killed, and three Marines were critically burned.

I started out to write separate stories, a small tribute of remembrance, of each of Ethan's friends who was killed in action in Iraq:
Sgt. Christian B. Williams
Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus
Cpl. Adam A. Galvez
Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield
Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson
Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris
Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman
Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon

When I read the stories of these men, trying to find as many published accounts with their names as possible to help me know them, it seemed each young man's story dovetailed into the next, they were all so interconnected with each other. The events that affected one affected others.

I've never been in the military. I couldn't imagine Iraq. But in my heart was a houseful of boys and their friends, all now grown into American men.


There in Iraq, they were living out of their vehicles together, roaming the countryside together, dedicated to the same cause, employed within the same mileau: working, playing, eating, sleeping was all shared.

And then I realized that every event and every Marine in the platoon was as significant as the other because they were a true unit. I've been trying for days to know how to say it and the closest I can get is that they all survived every day, day after day, because of each other. Each did their utmost to mitigate danger to the others.

All the roads were always mined, snipers were always hiding within a stone's throw, insurgents always smiling within a group of allies. It could have happened any day - every day, to any of them - to each of them - to all of them.

Every day was heroic, every day some kind of unbelievable valor from one after another prevented disaster. Most of the time it was just part of the routine: one more mine disarmed and forgotten. Sometimes somebody made a joke just as they all realized everyone was ok, and it got turned into funny-after-the-fact stories. They were just doing their job: in a team of heroes everyone comes to work.

While some boys their age spent 2006 making cool protest posters in frat houses at elite universities and cementing their futures as unelected political advisors to the White House, these men were Marines lodging an effective prohibition against totalitarianism, against slavery, against cruel and unusual punishments, against theocracy, against religious persecution, against kidnapping, against abuse of women and children.



Those who gave their lives gave them not once but every single day. Each of them and each of their brothers gave their lives every dusty deadly freezing boiling intense tedious extreme exhausted hour of every single day they spent in the desolation that remains of cursed Babylon before the terrible day when their lives were taken from them.

The Marines whose wounds of body or spirit will forever declare their personal mettle of Honor shouldered the burdens of potential injury every single day before the attacks that cost them dearly, in faithful love for their comrades, their families, and their America. You are not named here, your stories are your own to tell or not as you see fit. But we remember you, and are grateful.

These youthful men who returned home also give the coming years of their far horizons: they are witness and example to the sacrifices American heroes willingly made to bring liberty to lost and pitiable lands suffering under the yoke of dead history and the darkness of brutal tradition.

This is a brief history, in 5 posts, compiled for Memorial Day from official published accounts (original sources linked, and direct quoted material in italics - please alert me immediately if any have been missed), of some of the sacrifices made by the heroes of the Marines 3rd LAR, Company D, 2nd Platoon, during their tour of Iraq from March through September 2006 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

.


Links to the series of all 5 posts:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Appendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon


Marines Ethan Duncan Arguello Midland TX

Ten Years Ago, Four American Heroes Gave Their All

My son Ethan Arguello posted this on July 29th, the 10th Anniversary of the deaths of four of his fellow Marines who gave their lives for American liberty. I've posted about these heroes before - part of their story is here. Their mothers, widows, sisters still grieve, and so do their brothers in arms:

"To the ones who gave it all.

"10 years ago....
Ten years ago today something happened that would have a greater impact on my life than I could ever imagine.

"While in Iraq, our platoon and company were split up into three neighboring towns. We were comfortable working here. We knew there were terrorists all around us and from what I remember, moral was high. Exercising, patrolling and sleeping had become a way of life. We relieved an army striker unit that had been in that area of operation for at least several months and reported no U.S. casualties but a known presence of terrorists. On a regular quiet day, we got a call of an attack on one of our positions, QRF was sent out. What seemed like an eternity of time to pass before their return, they returned with bad news. Jose Mata put his arm over my shoulder and told me the news, the news that we could never change. It was news that we couldn't share with anyone else until their families were notified. Together we sat that evening mostly in silence around the rest of the platoon who was not completely aware of what had just happened. A long last couple months we would spend in that country, without four of our brothers. The next day, in tremendous mental pain,HNFMF Chadwick Kenyon told me that he had spent the last minutes with Christian Williams partiality conscious in the back of the MedEvac vehicle. Sgt. Williams, Cpl. Baucus, LCpl. Butterfield and LCpl. Hanson, would have never chosen anyone else to go before them. They were men of honor, loyalty, respect and dignity, who any of us would have done the same for them. With nothing negative to say about these men by anybody, it makes us wonder, why them? I've attempted to understand why they were called before me and our other Marines and never have an answer just a thought that, they wouldn't have wanted it to be us.

"Only the good die young" is a saying that has held strong in my mind every time I think of them. Our Marines stood up to the evil group of terrorists that killed our citizens on September 11, 2001. They did this without the concern of their own safety. They did this for me and you. I and the other Marines of 3rd LAR Delta Company witnessed these Heroes, on many occasions, both in training and in combat give their unselfish 100% at everything they did.

"A big thank you to the families who raised these young warriors to be our protectors. Their character and discipline exemplified the ethics and values that I want my children to one day carry.

"To the Marines who gave it all, that we now call our heroes. We love you, we remember you, we mourn for you and will always honor you.

"Godspeed, USMC"

        ~ Ethan Arguello

Mettle of Honor: Part IV Heroes of the 3rd LAR Co. D 2nd Platoon 2006

August 20, 2006: Company D, 2nd Platoon, set out in a convoy of three LAVs on a routine patrol in Rawah with their six man crews. Both Cpl Hand and Cpl Galvez had recovered from their injuries and were with their teams again: Galvez in the rear LAV and Hand in one up ahead. Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman, 21, from Bend, OR, was also in the last LAV. For Galvez, it was his first day back on full regular duty.

About 2:00 PM the [last LAV in the convoy] hit an IED that consisted of multiple artillery shells with a fuel accelerant.

The IED exploded through the bottom of the LAV, killing [Cpl Galvez], Lance Cpl Randy Newman and HN Chad Kenyon. The other three crewmen were severely injured.

Lance Cpl. Paul Torres reported:
"[The vehicle] was engulfed in flames. Not waiting for his own vehicle to stop, [Cpl. Hand] jumped out and rushed to the burning hulk to render aid to the Marines inside. He crawled up on the vehicle while it was on fire and pulled out Staff Sgt. Scott, who had sustained severe burns. It was a dangerous situation as rounds began to cook off and explosives inside the
vehicle detonated. ... Scott was able to recover from his injuries and may not be alive today if not for the quick thinking of Hand."

The other two injured Marines continue their recoveries.

And so, on August 26, 2006 in Rawah, the 3rd LAR again gathered to mourn its lost brothers.

Cpl. Adam A. Galvez' family said that the "last email received from Adam in Iraq, the day before his death, concluded with "I love America." And indeed, he did."

"[Galvez] was “always willing to go the extra mile” to help others, according to Lance Cpl. Alberto Garcia. “He was a real motivator when he came to us,” said Garcia. “He was our driver and our mechanic, but most of all he was a great friend. I think I speak for everybody – we love you, we miss you, take care, God bless,” said Garcia.

On June 21, 2007, Galvez was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps
Commendation with Combat Valor for his actions on July 29, 2006.

Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman wrote “I thank God that he gave me such a good mother,” in a letter he recently sent home from Iraq. He wrote that his father was his “best friend”. Newman had survived two previous IED attacks. He was postumously awarded a Purple Heart for injuries received in April 2006, and the Gold Star for injuries that resulted in his death.

Pfc. Christopher Grimm [remembered] Newman [as one who] put others first consistently, "often [eating] last during his service in Iraq to make sure fellow Marines had enough food."

Cpl. Benjamin T. Bosse said Newman was “from Oregon, and damn proud of it, but yet, he was even prouder to be a Marine. He wasn’t just any Marine, he was a brother to us. He joined our family,” said Bosse, who was Newman’s roommate back in the U.S. Newman was also a man with goals, said Bosse, who always had dreams of “becoming this, or becoming that.” “I remember him ... telling me, ‘You know, I may be a driver, but I’m gonna be a gunner,’” said Bosse. “And it happened – he was a gunner.”

Newman's mother said ""Randy was called to be a Marine, just as Gideon was called by God to be a strong and valiant warrior - it says that in Judges 6:12. ... "So remember my son as a great and valiant warrior, not only for his country, but for something much bigger - a valiant warrior of our God, Lord Jesus Christ."

Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon, "Doc", one of the 2nd Platoon's beloved hospital corpsmen, was remembered by Lance Cpl. Gary M. Cassen as a “person of principle, who did everything he could to the best of his abilities.”

Kenyon...was someone who would “put his life on the line for others,” said Cassen. In fact, he was “glad to do it.” “The Marine Corps and the Navy were lucky to have a person of this caliber,” said Cassen. “Chad loved his Marines as much as he loved his Navy.”

“Rounds would start going off and Chad would be in the front running and gunning,” said Cassen... “After everything had calmed down, we would be like, ‘Hey Chad, you need to stay in the vehicle until someone gets hurt.’ But he would look you dead in the eyes and say, ‘And what? Let you have all the fun?’”

"What he was really proud of was how others in his unit took him as one of their own, even though Kenyon was a Navy sailor and not a Marine, his mother said. "He was very proud to have earned their respect," [she continued] "He was a Marine to them."

2nd Platoon did not lose another man during their last month in Iraq. But for the wider group, the 3rd LAR, Company D had one more tragedy before the deployment ended.

Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris, of I Marine Expeditionary Force was killed Sept. 3 by a pressure plate IED while conducting combat operations. His lieutenant said that Lance Cpl. Harris was the best driver and rifleman in the Corps.

Harris had been a volunteer firefighter with the Cabo-Lucero Volunteer Fire Department in San Miguel County, New Mexico. Harris was home-schooled and was an outdoor enthusiast who enjoyed hiking, hunting, fishing and skiing. In a letter home, Harris once wrote, "Mom, if I don't fight over there, then they will come fight over here, and if that happens, your grandkids would not get to grow up free like I did."

The Dragoons returned home with the 3rd LAR in September. As is the way of Marines, they have continued to honor their brothers by staying in touch with them and with the families of those who gave their lives, and keeping memories alive.

Others in the company were wounded and survived. We honor them all. Their heroism is true. Out of respect for privacy, I've omitted most stories and names of those wounded, and am referring only to information found in easily located official news reports. If you were a member of the 3rd LAR, Company D, 2nd Platoon, and wish your name and experience included, please let me know and I will be honored to post it.

At the end of the story, we want our heroes alive. We want them to ride off into the sunset with their girl and live happily ever after. That didn't happen in 2006 for everyone in Company D. This is not a movie, there is no script. But courage is never tragic, and honor is only earned in real life.

Because these men of the 3rd LAR, Company D, were willing to take those ultimate risks, they brought about happy endings we may never hear but must be assured of.  The price of liberty is always dear. It is worth the price, for all else is dross. Mothers, fathers, wife, brothers, Marines, and all who love Chad, Adam, Tony, Christian, Phillip, Jason, Randy, and Shane: we will always remember them and pray for them and for you. May your hearts have solace. We will never forget what you have given us in your brave and valorous sons.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.




Links to the series of all 5 posts:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon

"Who More Than Self Their Country Loved"

The Memorial Day remembrance in our household includes these men of the 3rd LAR, the subjects of the video, seven Marines and their Navy medic, who served with my son, Sgt Ethan D Arguello, and paid for our freedom with their lives in 2006 in Iraq:

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus
Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield
Cpl. Adam A. Galvez
Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson
Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris
Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon
Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman
Sgt. Christian B. Williams

Last year, I wrote:

"While some boys their age spent 2006 making cool protest posters in frat houses at elite universities and cementing their futures as unelected political advisors to the White House, these men were Marines lodging an effective prohibition against totalitarianism, against slavery, against cruel and unusual punishments, against theocracy, against religious persecution, against kidnapping, against abuse of women and children.

"Those who gave their lives gave them not once but every single day. Each of them and each of their brother Dragoons gave their lives every dusty deadly freezing boiling intense tedious extreme exhausted hour of every single day they spent in the desolation that remains of cursed Babylon before the terrible day when their lives were taken from them.

"The Marines whose wounds of body or spirit will forever declare their personal mettle of Honor shouldered the burdens of potential injury every single day before the attacks that cost them dearly, in faithful love for their comrades, their families, and their America. You are not named here, your stories are your own to tell or not as you see fit. But we remember you, and are grateful.

"These youthful men who returned home also give the coming years of their far horizons: they are witness and example to the sacrifices American heroes willingly made to bring liberty to lost and pitiable lands suffering under the yoke of dead history and the darkness of brutal tradition."

How can we not cherish each day of our lives in these great United States, and how can we not stand firm against encroachment on the liberty bought for us with the sacrifices of patriots who said no to tyrants again and again and again throughout our history?

Thank you God, for sending such men to protect us and our country.

Please also visit the blog "Through The Eyes Of A Gold Star Mom": the amazing, hope-and-love-filled story of Amy Galvez, whose son died for Freedom in Iraq.

In this post, you can find links to memorial sites and guest books for these heroes, if you would like to leave a note for their families.

Links to the series of all 5 posts:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon

UPDATED May 30: Thank you, Pat @ And So It Goes In Shreveport, for the link.

Mettle of Honor: Part II Heroes of the 3rd LAR Co. D 2nd Platoon 2006

As they rounded out their second deployment, Company D was seeing some results of Operation Iraqi Freedom, although the situation was still one of constant danger. They hadn't lost a man yet, when Cpl Graham Paulsgrove profiled the platoon and their operations on July 7 2006. The highly mobile unit went where they were needed, living out of their vehicles for weeks, nomads patrolling the barren countryside and accumulating reconnaisance intelligence, endlessly walking the roadsides scouting for buried IED mines, making the roads and villages safe for the populace and assisting in raids against insurgents.

Chadwick T. Kenyon was "Doc Kenyon". He was one of the two hospital corpsmen assigned to the Wolfpack's 2nd Platoon. He treated their wounds and they stood watch over him while he aided their fellows. Ethan said Chad never was willing to wait for the shooting to stop: if a man went down, Doc was there in a flash. Every minute mattered to him.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jose Mata Jr., 26, was the senior Corpsman who travelled with the platoon, and the man who trained Kenyon. Ethan says Mata's knowledge of Marine history and tradition is encyclopedic. The company considers them both honorary Marines and they are deeply respected.

Personal armor has come a long way. It is heavy, hot in the 110 degree heat, and cumbersome. Shortly before 3rd LAR's deployment, it became mandatory to wear and there was initially some grumbling. But not for long, as attested by the three men in the company who took direct hits and were saved by their armor.

May 14, 2006, a sniper hit Lance Cpl. Robert F. Dean in the thigh while the company was patrolling near Gharmah. Cpl. Graham A. Paulsgrove reported:

“We had an area cordoned off and the scouts were out searching the area,” recalled Cpl. Dustin R. Nelson, Dean’s vehicle commander. “I reached down to give him some water. As he popped out of his hatch to take it from me, I heard a crack.”

“The bullet would have hit his femoral bone, and possibly gone through and hit his femoral artery,” said HN Chad T. Kenyon, 20, the corpsman who treated Dean after the incident. “If that happened, he could have bled to death within a few minutes. It would have been a sticky situation, but the plates did their job and stopped the bullet.”

This was one of those times when Doc Kenyon interpreted a gunshot as a "Go" signal to begin running toward the weapon's target. Ethan caught it on camera once everyone was safely under cover: his picture of Kenyon examining Dean (above) was taken a few minutes after Chad had braved sniper fire to get to the downed Marine.

“They make it harder to get in and out of the vehicle, but without them, I would probably be in bad shape,” said Dean, 20, [from Spring, Texas], about his side SAPI plates. “It was a good thing that they made all of us wear them.”


On June 12, 2006, Pfc. Jason Hanson was leading a patrol searching for roadside bombs in Habbanyiah when a 7.62 mm sniper round slammed squarely into his chest, knocking him down. Cpl Paulsgrove recorded the events:

“I saw [Hanson] on the ground, ran up to him and rolled him over,” said Seaman Chad T. Kenyon, one of the company’s Navy corpsmen and a 20-year-old from Tucson, Ariz. “I saw that the round had gone through the front of his flak, so I opened up his flak and saw no bleeding.

"Then he looked up at me and said, ‘I’m fine, Doc.’”

“The round definitely would have hit him in the diaphragm, which is a muscle that assists in breathing,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Jose Mata Jr., 26, the company’s senior corpsman from Hialeah, Fla. “It’s not a good day when that happens because he probably wouldn’t have lived.”

The bruise and soreness from impact was proof of the value of the hot and uncomfortable kevlar covered ceramic. “I’m happy to carry the extra weight,” said Hanson, grinning slightly.

Sgt. Joshua S. Adams was also saved from serious injury by his armor. Cpl. Paulsgrove interviewed him July 7,2006:

“We were blocking off a road and one car pulled up from a side street, and the guy in the back of vehicle started moving around to face us, and as I was telling Sgt. Adams, he got hit,” said Lance Cpl. Kyle V. Lyons, 25, the gunner on Adam’s vehicle from Houston. “He dropped down and then said he was fine.”

“My gunner took over while I assessed my wounds and pulled some shrapnel out of my arm, then we chased down the car,” said Adams. “The round went into my SAPI but when it hit, the round shattered and some of it went into my wrist.”

"The vehicle was chased down and the two men were eventually detained. As for the rounds which struck Adams, they could have proven fatal if he had not worn his body armor, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Jose Mata Jr., 26, the company’s senior corpsmen from Hialeah, Fla.

“The round would have hit him in the liver, causing massive internal damage - it could have been bad,” said Mata Jr. “The SAPI plates did their job.”

Much of the Dragoons' time was occupied with the tedious and tense job of walking the roadsides meticulously searching the endless dirt for slight signs of disturbance that might indicate a buried mine or IED.

Ethan tells me that Cpl. Paul Kozlowski was an agressive volunteer when it came to disarming these bombs. He says when they found a mine, Kozlowski would jump down immediately and begin digging it out with his hands.

Cpl Paulsgrove recorded their success in Gharmah in mid-May 2006:

Cpl. Paul Kozlowski, a combat engineer attached to 3rd LAR Bn., said Marines “basically sweep off the road,” clearing the route and “keeping a lookout for anything unusual”

“It’s a big team effort,” said Kozlowski, from Bowie, Md.

So far their efforts thwarted the insurgents. [The] platoon uncovered five IEDs in the [first two weeks of May], none of which caused any harm to the men seeking out the bombs.

They then moved on and spent the first 2 weeks of June assisting the 3rd Batallion/5th Regiment by securing the streets of Habbaniyah in the 120 degree heat. "The unit was busy in their area up until the time they were replaced. On their last day of operations, they found five IEDs."

They weren’t always lucky. Shortly after coming from the far western reaches of Iraq to assist Marines with Regimental Combat Team 5, one vehicle was hit by the very type of weapon they’re seeking to root out.

“It was a real eye opener,” said Cpl. Joseph E. Sherwood, a 29-year-old team leader from Orlando, Fla. “We lost our gunner for four days due to a concussion, but it could have been a lot worse.”

In the end, it would get worse, much worse, when the enemy had a run of deadly luck, but the Dragoons didn't know that in May.


.


Links to the series of all 5 posts:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon


Marine Ethan Duncan Arguello Midland Texas

Ten Years Ago, These Men Gave Their Lives For Us and For America

The Memorial Day remembrance in our household includes these men of the 3rd LAR, the subjects of the video, seven Marines and their Navy medic, who served with my son, Sgt Ethan D Arguello, and paid for our freedom with their lives in 2006 in Iraq:

Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus
Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield
Cpl. Adam A. Galvez
Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson
Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris
Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon
Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman
Sgt. Christian B. Williams

Some years ago, I tried to gather their stories in one place:

"While some boys their age spent 2006 making cool protest posters in frat houses at elite universities and cementing their futures as unelected political advisors to the White House, these men were Marines lodging an effective prohibition against totalitarianism, against slavery, against cruel and unusual punishments, against theocracy, against religious persecution, against kidnapping, against abuse of women and children."

Follow the links below to read the stories of how they served, and how they died.

How can we not cherish each day of our lives in these great United States, and how can we not stand firm against encroachment on the liberty bought for us with the sacrifices of patriots who said no to tyrants again and again and again throughout our history?

Thank you Father God, for sending such men to protect us and our country.

In this post, you can find links to memorial sites and guest books for these heroes, if you would like to leave a note for their families.

Links to the series of all 5 posts:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon

Learn their stories. Remember them. Keep faith with them. Catch the torch they throw, and hold it high.

Marine Lt. Alan Kroboth's POW Experience, and Pat Conroy's Man In The Mirror Realization

While I struggle to write a fitting Memorial Day post for the sacrifices and valor of the Marines 3rd LAR, Delta Company, White Platoon, there are stories of other wars in other places where American citizens took up arms for the cause of Liberty and saved our world, by doing their part when the time came.

People deserve to be free in their own countries. They should not have to come to the USA for those unalienable rights with which they are endowed by their Creator, but should be given whatever help we can offer that they obtain a government in their own land that derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.

This was true in The Great War, it was true in World War II, it was true in the Korean War, it was true in the Vietnam War, it was true in Desert Storm, it is true in Iraq and Afghanistan. For citizens of a country that since its founding has continually championed individual liberty, the idea of abandoning others to their fate is intolerable.

In each of these, some in America marched against US involvement in the conflict. The shouting can obscure the ugly details and shocking conditions that led to war. Examples of these conditions are often found in how prisoners and prisoners of war are treated.

Opposition may arise from an unrealistic but sincere wish that diplomacy can prevent totalitarianism, a protective reaction from mothers, a way of rebelling for youth, an eagerness to follow a fashionable trend.

Pat Conroy discovered it can also arise from plain, unrecognized cowardice.

The son of a much decorated Marine, Colonel Donald Conroy, Pat Conroy is a writer whose novels set in the South Carolina low country, such as The Water is Wide and The Great Santini, have been made into acclaimed movies. His parents groomed him for a life of military service, although his temperament was not suited to this discipline, and he rebelled. He joined the Peace Corps instead of the Marines. He helped organize an anti-war protest. His acts of rebellion were sincere, small, and harmless - it was his talent for building a story around them to support his own point of view that led to his fame.

Some years ago, he interviewed former classmates from The Citadel in preparation for his book "My Losing Season". One of those was Marine Lt. Alan Kroboth, who in 1972 was shot down in Vietnam and spent the next 9 months as a prisoner of war. Conrad shares Kroboth's true, unvarnished story in his essay "An Honest Confession of an American Coward":

"....When Al awoke, he couldn't move. A Viet Cong soldier held an AK-47 to his head. His back and his neck were broken, and he had shattered his left scapula in the fall. When he was well enough to get to his feet (he still can't recall how much time had passed), two armed Viet Cong led Al from the jungles of South Vietnam to a prison in Hanoi.

"The journey took three months. Al Kroboth walked barefooted through the most impassable terrain in Vietnam, and he did it sometimes in the dead of night. He bathed when it rained, and he slept in bomb craters with his two Viet Cong captors.

"As they moved farther north, infections began to erupt on his body, and his legs were covered with leeches picked up while crossing the rice paddies.

"...In the meantime, Al and his captors had finally arrived in the North, and the Viet Cong traded him to North Vietnamese soldiers for the final leg of the trip to Hanoi.

"Many times when they stopped to rest for the night, the local villagers tried to kill him. His captors wired his hands behind his back at night, so he trained himself to sleep in the center of huts when the villagers began sticking knives and bayonets into the thin walls.

"Following the U.S. air raids, old women would come into the huts to excrete on him and yank out hunks of his hair.

"After the nightmare journey of his walk north, Al was relieved when his guards finally delivered him to the POW camp in Hanoi and the cell door locked behind him.

"It was at the camp that Al began to die. He threw up every meal he ate and before long was misidentified as the oldest American soldier in the prison because his appearance was so gaunt and skeletal. But the extraordinary camaraderie among fellow prisoners that sprang up in all the POW camps caught fire in Al, and did so in time to save his life.

"When he told me about the C-141 landing in Hanoi to pick up the prisoners, Al said he felt no emotion, none at all, until he saw the giant American flag painted on the plane's tail. I stopped writing as Al wept over the memory of that flag on that plane, on that morning, during that time in the life of America.

"It was that same long night, after listening to Al's story, that I began to make judgments about how I had conducted myself during the Vietnam War. "

The interview caused Conrad to reappraise his long-held assumptions about his own self. He blurts out "I now revere words like democracy, freedom, the right to vote, and the grandeur of the extraordinary vision of the founding fathers. "

The essay is well-represented on the net. it is not long, and if you have only time to read one thing today, it would be well to read it all.

Remembering Our Fallen Warriors: Sgt Christian B Williams, the Polk County Florida Fallen, and the Traveling Tribute Wall

My Marine, Ethan Arguello (now a civilian again), asked me to share this post he wrote, to reach out to all Marines and Veterans with ties to Polk County (Winter Haven) Florida, especially those who served with Sgt Chris Williams in one of his several deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, with an invitation to join Chris's family and friends in a Day of Honor and Remembrance July 23rd. Details further below.

Sgt Ethan D. Arguello:
"One Iraq memory of My Friend and also my Brother in Arms, Sgt Christian B Williams: About 2 months into my second deployment, outside of Fallujah (Kharma) about 7pm(dusk), with little winds and peaceful clear skies, we were eating, talking and bedding down for the night in a field(like a cotton field), relaxed and comfortable, when... loud automatic gunfire rings out. Everybody instinctively takes cover and begins to return fire. Sgt Williams runs across an open field, completely exposed to hostile enemy fire, to get with his team. Through the 'dust, smoke and debris on the battlefield' we heard a voice throughout: "Let's go let’s get em, let's f****n go, let's go get em!" It was Sgt Christian Williams. It's that dedication to his Brothers safety and tenacious fighting spirit that I remember and love him for.

"Below is a Message I just got from Sgt Christian Williams' mother. He was an awesome man and Marine! If you can make it, please do. If not, invite whoever you think could be there. Everyone is invited, that’s the way Christian would want it and that’s the type of man he was, liked by everyone and he had a warm welcome for everybody. This is their letter to me, if you’re interested, please let me know and I will get you set up for success.
Ethan Arguello"

Jack & Marie Williams:

"Hi there. I just want you to know that we are putting together a Memorial for this year. Jack & I decided that instead of in honor of Sgt Christian B Williams, we feel that Chris would like it better if we memorialize the Fallen of Polk County with the 3rd LAR. So we are inviting you to an event on Saturday at 12 noon, the 23 of July we will conduct a ceremony " A Day of Honor and remembrance " for the fallen service members of Polk County Winter Haven Fl with the 3rd LAR Delta Co Fallen.

We will also be hosting The “Moving Tribute Memorial Wall" Some Gave All Inc from Friday July 22 to Sunday July 24,2011. The public is invited. Following the ceremony, we will also provide a cookout. We are affiliated with the VFW Post 4289; in fact the event is already in their website. Your presence will be a great honor to us. There will be Marines that will attend, in fact Richard Reed already committed himself and a Paris Island DI to join us. Let us know if you will be able to come if it will be conflict on your schedule we can understand. Keep in touch and take the very best of care.
Love in Christ,
Jack & Marie Williams "

There is contact information for reservations on the VFW Website, and the Williams family have a memorial page that is a good place to leave memories and communicate with them: Sgt Christian B. Williams Guestbook at Legacy.com.

To learn more about Chris's story, here are links to the series of posts about the 3rd LAR's 2006 Iraq deployment, and the men who gave their lives for us there:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon


Photo: Sgt Christian B Williams on "turret Watch", a dangerous job he often took on voluntarily to give his comrades relief from the task.


Ethan Duncan Arguello
Sgt Ethan D. Arguello

The Kids and the Future President of the United States

Some years ago, when George W Bush was Governor of Texas, we lived in a neighborhood in Midland near Laura's family. It is an ordinary middle-class neighborhood, a few blocks from where the elder Bush's lived when George was a child. When George and Laura came to visit their family, he sometimes took walks, alone, around the quiet streets. Back then, he didn't need the Secret Service to shadow him.

Ethan came home one day very excited. He and his friends had met the Governor during one of these walks. With the gregariousness of youth, they had introduced themselves to him and asked him to wait while one ran home to get a camera. Mr. Bush agreed, and chatted with the boys. They treated him to a lively discussion about their bikes, their pets, school, sports. Nick drove past while they waited and Ethan pointed him out. Mr Bush said "Your brother has a cool car!" Eventually, the photo was taken and they waved goodbye.

It was only later that evening that the boy with the camera discovered there wasn't any film in it (yes, digital cameras are that recent). They had no photo of them with the Governor. They were disappointed as only 12 year old boys can be.

Fast forward to a year later. Fate twinkled. Once again, Mr Bush, still Governor, was walking in the neighborhood. Once again the same group of boys encountered him. Without hesitation, they hailed him down again, explained the previous lack of film and asked him to wait once more while they obtained a camera (being sure to check for film).

Mr. Bush again waited, friendly and patient, and finally the boys got their photo.

No one could have blamed the man if he had just wanted some peace and quiet on his walk. No one would have faulted him if he'd politely said he "needed to get back" and couldn't spare the time to hang out with an excited and unruly bunch of boys.

Life has taught me that how people act "when no one is looking" is the best way to judge their character. Like it or not, we all have public personas we adopt in our never-ceasing attempt to be all things to all people or further whatever agenda we have.

Most of us spend our lives trying to reconcile our real selves with our public selves. Trying to be as good and kind in reality as we would seem to be.

If we are lucky, the person we are when no one is looking is the better of the two.

When no one was looking, Mr. Bush was kind to a group of boys when it didn't matter to anyone but them.

~

2010 addition: The above was written and originally posted in 2006. Many now know that this is a significant trait in Mr Bush's character, and he not only frequently, but regularly, shows kindness where the media can't see it, where the public may never know. The presidency couldn't take that away from him because it's part of who he is. Of all the events and actions of Mr Bush's service in office, this seems to me the most important, and the most worthy of emulation.

Regular readers of my blog know that Ethan is now a Marine Drill Instructor who served two tours in Iraq. While Ethan returned home safely, several of his brothers in arms gave their lives and others gave the health of their bodies to secure liberty for the Iraqi people, and to preserve American security and liberty. Mr. Bush spoke about Cpl Adam Galvez when he addressed the American Legion in Salt Lake City shortly after Adam, along with Lance Cpl Randy Newman and Seaman Chadwick Kenyon, were killed in action in 2006. And, just as important, is that Mr Bush also visited, and later followed up with, at least one of the Marines who were injured in that same IED explosion. Such quiet, private visits are habitual for Mr Bush, and well known to the troops and their families who see these signs of the respect Mr Bush has for them.

If George Washington was the President who could not tell a lie, and Abraham Lincoln was the President who taught himself Law by candlelight, George W. Bush was the President who did the right thing even when nobody was looking.


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Marines DI Sgt Ethan Duncan Arguello

God Bless Our Heroes: Bin Laden is Dead

Ethan just called to tell us that Bin Laden is dead, killed by American Heroes in Pakistan.
God bless our troops. God bless the men and women who since 2001 have voluntarily put themselves in harm's way to break the back of Islamic Terror of the kind led by Osama bin Laden.This war is not over, but they have obtained a singular objective towards its end.



Who gets the credit for this? In our household, our son Ethan and his comrades in arms in the Marines. We especially honor those who gave everything:
Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon
Cpl. Adam A. Galvez
Sgt. Christian B. Williams
Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus
Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield
Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson
Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris
Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman


To our Gold Star families: May the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless you all and at the fullness of time reunite us all in joyous victory of Eternal Life in Christ Jesus.

"...Those Who Went West Have Seen Him": A Memorial Day Story

Memorial Day is nearly 150 years old. During each of those years, families and towns have new reason for remembrance, have new graves to tend on "Decoration Day". American freedom is bought dearly by men and women who gladly stand up and push back against threats to liberty.

In our household, we remember these men of the 3rd LAR,seven Marines and their Navy medic, who served with my son, Sgt Ethan D Arguello, and paid for our freedom with their lives in 2006 in Iraq:
Seaman Chadwick T. Kenyon
Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus
Lance Cpl. Anthony E. Butterfield
Cpl. Adam A. Galvez
Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson
Lance Cpl. Shane P. Harris
Lance Cpl. Randy L. Newman
Sgt. Christian B. Williams

I've written about them before. In many ways, their stories are unique, and each brave member of the US Military has their own story to tell. At the same time, there is a kind of courage that is renewed with each generation of Americans, and these men shared that courage with those of older times and other wars who, like them, gave their all for God and country, for liberty and freedom.

The story below, "The Beloved Captain", is the second of Donald Hankey's stories I've shared here. It was published in 1917, painting the heroism Hankey witnessed during The Great War, as WWI was then known.When I read it, the story didn't seem like something from a hundred years ago, but instead, it sounded like the kinds of things I was hearing people say about Doc Kenyon, Adam Galvez, Tony Butterfield, Jason Hanson, Randy Newman, Phillip Baucus, Chris Williams, and Shane Harris. 

The man who wrote this story, Donald Hankey, is himself numbered with them. He was killed in action in 1916, in the battle of the Somme. May God bless us to meet them all in the joy of the Resurrection at the end of all strife, and the final, victorious coming of the Lord.


The Beloved Captain

"He came In the early days, when we were still at recruit drills under the hot September sun. Tall, erect, smiling: so we first saw him, and so he remained to the end. At the start he knew as little of soldiering as
we did. He used to watch us being drilled by the sergeant; but his manner of watching was peculiarly his own. He never looked bored. He was learning just as much as we were, in fact more. He was learning his job, and from the first he saw that his job was more than to give the correct orders. His job was to lead us. So he watched, and noted many things, and never found the time hang heavy on his hands. He watched our evolutions, so as to learn the correct orders; he watched for the right manner of command, the manner which secured the most prompt response to an order; and he watched every one of us for our individual characteristics.

"We were his men. Already he took an almost paternal interest in us. He noted the men who tried hard, but were naturally slow and awkward. He distinguished them from those who were inattentive and bored. He marked down the keen and efficient amongst us. Most of all he studied those who were subject to moods, who were sulky one day and willing the next. These were the ones who were to turn the scale. If only he could get these on his side, the battle would be won.

"For a few days he just watched. Then he started work. He picked out some of the most awkward ones, and, accompanied by a corporal, marched them away by themselves. Ingenuously he explained that he did not know much himself yet; but he thought that they might get on better If they drilled by themselves a bit, and that if he helped them, and they helped him, ey would son learn. His confidence was Infectious. He looked at them, and they looked at him, and the men pulled themselves together and determined to do their best. Their best surprised themselves. His patience was inexhaustible. His simplicity could not fail to be understood. His keenness and optimism carried all with them. Very soon the awkward squad found themselves awkward no longer; and soon after that they ceased to be a squad, and went back to the platoon.

"Then he started to drill the platoon, with the sergeant standing by to point out his mistakes. Of course he made mistakes, and when that happened he never minded admitting It. He would explain what mistakes he
had made, and try again. The result was that we began to take almost as much interest and pride in his progress as he did in ours. We were his men, and he was our leader. We felt that he was a credit to us, and
we resolved to be a credit to him. There was a bond of mutual confidence and affection between us, which grew stronger and stronger as the months passed. He had a smile for almost everyone; but we thought that he had a different smile for us. We looked for it, and were never disappointed.

"On parade, as long as we were trying, his smile encouraged us. Off parade, if we passed him and saluted, his eyes looked straight into our own, and his smile greeted us. It was a wonderful thing, that smile of his. It was something worth living for, and worth working for. It bucked one up when one was bored or tired. It seemed to make one look at things from a different point of view, a finer point of view, his point of view.
There was nothing feeble or weak about It. It was not monotonous like the smile of " Sunny Jim." It meant something. It meant that we were his men, and that he was proud of us, and sure that we were going to do jolly well” better than any of the other platoons. And it made us determine that we would. When we failed him, when he was disappointed in us, he did not smile. He did not rage or curse. He just looked disappointed, and that made us feel far more savage with ourselves than any amount of swearing would have done. He made us feel that we were not playing the game by him. It was not what he said. He was never very good at talking. It was just how he looked. And his look of displeasure and disappointment was a thing that we would do anything to avoid. The fact was that he had won his way into our affections. We loved him. And there isn't anything stronger than love, when all's said and done.

"He was good to look on. He was big and tall, and held himself upright. His eyes looked his own height. He moved with the grace of an athlete. His skin was tanned by a wholesome outdoor life, and his eyes were clear and wide open. Physically he was a prince among men. We used to notice, as we marched along the road and passed other officers, that they always looked pleased to see him. They greeted him with a cordiality which was reserved for him. Even the general seemed to have singled him out, and cast an eye of special approval upon him.

"Somehow, gentle though he was, he was never familiar. He had a kind of innate nobility which marked him out as above us. He was not democratic. He was rather the justification for aristocracy. We all knew
instinctively that he was our superior - a man of finer temper than ourselves, a "toff" in his own right. I suppose that that was why he could be so humble without loss of dignity. For he was humble too, if that is the right word, and I think it is. No trouble of ours was too small for him to attend to. When we started route marches, for instance, and our feet were blistered and sore, as they often were at first, you would have thought that they were his own feet from the trouble he took.

"Of course after the march there was always an inspection of feet. That is the routine. But with him it was no mere routine. He came into our rooms, and if anyone had a sore foot he would kneel down on the floor and
look at it as carefully as if he had been a doctor. Then he would prescribe, and the remedies were ready at hand, being borne by the sergeant. If a blister had to be lanced he would very likely lance it himself there and then, so as to make sure that it was done with a clean needle and that no dirt was allowed to get in. There was no affectation about this, no striving after effect. It was simply that he felt that our feet were pretty important, and that he knew that we were pretty careless. So he thought it best at the start to see to the matter himself. Nevertheless, there was in our eyes something almost religious about this care for our feet. It seemed to have a touch of the Christ about it, and we loved and honored him the more.

"We knew that we should lose him. For one thing, we knew that he would be promoted. It was our great hope that some day he would command the company. Also we knew that he would be killed. He was so amazingly unselfconscious. For that reason we knew that he would be absolutely fearless. He would be so keen on the job in hand, and so anxious for his men, that he would forget about his own danger. So it proved. He was a captain when we went out to the front. Whenever there was a tiresome job
to be done, he was there in charge. If ever there were a moment of danger, he was on the spot. If there were any particular part of the line where the shells were falling faster or the bombs dropping more
thickly than in other parts, he was in it.

"It was not that he was conceited and imagined himself indispensable. It was just that he was so keen that the men should do their best, and act worthily of the regiment. He knew that fellows hated turning out at night for fatigue, when they were in a "rest camp." He knew how tiresome the long march there and back and the digging in the dark for an unknown purpose were. He knew that fellows would be inclined to grouse and shirk, so he thought that it was up to him to go and show them that he thought it was a job worth doing. And the fact that he was there put a new complexion on the matter altogether. No one would shirk if he were there. No one would grumble so much, either. What was good enough for him was good enough for us. If it were not too much trouble for him to turn out, it was not too much trouble for us.

"He knew, too, how trying to the nerves it is to sit in a trench and be shelled. He knew what a temptation there is to move a bit farther down the trench and herd together in a bunch at what seems the safest end. He
knew, too, the folly of it, and that it was not the thing to do - not done in the best regiments. So he went along to see that it did not happen, to see that the men stuck to their posts, and conquered their nerves.

"And as soon as we saw him, we forgot our own anxiety. It was: "Move a bit farther down, sir. We are all right here; but don't you go exposing of yourself." We didn't matter. We knew it then. We were just the rank
and file, bound to take risks. The company would get along all right without us. But the captain, how was the company to get on without him? To see him was to catch his point of view, to forget our personal
anxieties, and only to think of the company, and the regiment, and honor.

"There was not one of us but would gladly have died for him. We longed for the chance to show him that. We weren't heroes. We never dreamed about the Victoria Cross. But to save the captain we would have earned it ten times over, and never have cared a button whether we got it or not. We never got the chance, worse luck. It was all the other way.

"We were holding some trenches which were about as unhealthy as trenches could be. The Bosches were only a few yards away, and were well supplied with trench mortars. We hadn't got any at that time. Bombs and air torpedoes were dropping round us all day. Of course the captain was there. It seemed as if he could not keep away. A torpedo fell into the trench, and buried some of our chaps. The fellows next to them ran to dig them out. Of course he was one of the first. Then came another torpedo in the same place. That was the end.

"But he lives. Somehow he lives. And we who knew him do not forget. We feel his eyes on us. We still work for that wonderful smile of his. There are not many of the old lot left now; but I think that those who went West have seen him. When they got to the other side I think they were met. Someone said: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

"And as they knelt before that gracious pierced Figure, I reckon they saw nearby the captain's smile. Anyway, in that faith let me die, if death should come my way; and so, I think, shall I die content. "