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Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Gumby goes to war
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Spartan warriors were strongly outnumbered when they faced a 10,000-strong Persian army in 480 BC. But the 300 Spartans refused to surrender. Their motto then was Molon Labe. In Greek, that roughly translates into “If you want them, you have to come get them.” The Spartans fought bravely for four days before all were killed on the battlefield.
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| Louie Favorite/AJC |
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Sgt. First Class Shane McCray (top) brought a Gumby to Iraq for luck. The figure was included in his platoon’s patch, as worn by Spc. Joshua Perryman of Lithonia. |
That warrior spirit lives in 2007 on the unofficial left arm patches worn by the soldiers of 3rd platoon, Company H, 121st Infantry (ABN)(LRS). Except the official mascot isn’t a Spartan fighter but Gumby (this is not a typo).
Here’s the scoop on Gumby.
Sgt. First Class Shane McCray, the platoon sergeant, bought a green rubber Gumby at a dollar store in Columbus just before he entered grueling Ranger school at Fort Benning in 1987. He bought it for good luck and has carried it with him since. Gumby now sits mounted on the barrel of his M-4 rifle.
So last summer at Fort Hood, when the platoon designed its own patch, Gumby made it as the official insignia.
U.S. soldiers are only allowed to wear officially sanctioned unit patches — Company H wears the wild boar insignia of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 78th Troop Command, under which they fall — so the Gumby patches are donned when 3rd platoon is out here along the Syrian border where no one is supposed to see them on their surveillance missions.
But the 36 soldiers in the platoon are proud of their special patch.
“There’s a history behind it,” says McCray. It’s quite a history, too. McCray’s Gumby is older than several of his soldiers.
That awkward, awful moment of saying goodbye
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Driving home after dropping my son Ken off at the MARTA station after his two-week leave, I had a deja-vu experience of returning to Vietnam after one of my leaves.
I didn’t have a new baby - as Ken does — and Ken was 7 at the time, but I recall that the anxiety and apprehension of returning was more intense than it had been during my initial departure for Vietnam.
The first time, I went with my unit. The camaraderie of going as a unit or crew makes it a little easier. But when returning from leave, you’re generally alone.
I wondered if Ken was experiencing the same emotions as I had felt.
His leaving also gave me a sense of what my family must have felt, seeing their father and husband going to war in some far-off corner of the world, perhaps, God forbid, not to return.
Does your knowledge as a war vet make it harder to send a son or daughter off?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Kenneth Hutnick
Should you tell all the homefront news?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I imagine at least once during any deployment a wife is faced with the decision about whether to give her husband bad news.
On one hand, you want his mind completely focused on his work — difficulties at home can distract soldiers and put their lives at further risk. On the other hand, you don’t want to create a trust issue between the two of you when he eventually learns of the news.
Because my husband and I only had a few weeks notice before he deployed, this issue never came up for discussion before he left.
It wasn’t until another military wife experiencing serious health issues asked for guidance on this topic that I even gave it a thought.
Knowing my husband, my guess was he would want to know all news — good or bad. A phone conversation confirmed this and it was quite a relief for me, as I have difficulty keeping anything from him.
I recently gave him news of a death in the family and as upsetting as it was for him, he was comforted by the fact he was still involved in life at home. Knowledge is powerful even when you’re thousands of miles away.
Have you agreed to tell your spouse everything while he is gone? Has it worked out well?
Permalink | Comments (15) | Categories: Andie Heffernan
