Fallen Soldier

Saturday, 11/11/06
1015

Since today is Veteran’s Day, I thought I would share another military tradition of which civilians may not be aware. It’s along the lines of the toast to “Absent Comrades” that is often proposed when military people and veterans meet socially, and which you’ve probably seen in at least one war movie.

Like many military and veteran's gathering places, every mess hall at Camp Arifjan has a table like this one:

Fallen Soldier's Table

"Fallen Soldier"

In case you can’t read the words in the photograph, the placard says:

“Fallen Soldier”

“This table, set for one, is small – symbolizing the frailty of one prisoner alone against his oppressors.

The tablecloth is white – symbolizing the purity of intentions to respond to our country’s call to arms.

The single rose reminds us of the families and loved ones that keep the faith – awaiting the return of our comrades-in-arms.

A slice of lemon to remind us of their bitter fate.

Spilled salt upon the plate, representing the tears of the children who will never know their touch or the whisper of their voices.

An inverted glass – they cannot toast with us this night.

All of you who served with them and called them comrades, who relied on their strength, experience, insight, and aid – Remember – for surely they have not forsaken you.”

Like many such reminders, this is such a familiar sight that it becomes part of the scenery and you can easily walk right past it without noticing. But once in awhile, like today, it’s good to pause and remember.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Chopin (Soundtrack from “The Pianist”)

Reveille

Thursday 11/9/06
0700

One of the things I like about living on a military post is the overt respect for the American flag and the traditions surrounding it. In particular, the raising and lowering of the flag outside post headquarters is a daily ritual, accompanied by the appropriate bugle calls played over the public address system, which is audible all over the post.

Reveille (pronounced rev'-il-lee) is the first bugle call of the day (the words I learned to it at Boy Scout camp were "You've got to get up, you've got to get up, you've got to get up this morning!"). It's played at 0600, so most people are actually already up. The color guard assembles outside post headquarters, and when Reveille is played they snap to attention and raise the flag quickly to the top of the flagpole.

At the end of the official duty day (1700), the bugle plays Retreat as a sort of warning, and then To The Color. When To The Color is played, the color guard slowly lower the flag, fold it, and put it away until the next day.

http://bands.army.mil/music/bugle/

What makes these times of day special on a military installation is that when they hear the bugle call, everyone who is outside stops what they are doing (including driving cars), faces the flagpole, stands at attention, and salutes, holding the salute until a few moments after the music has stopped.

I've been outside several times at Reveille or Retreat since being mobilized, and so have been reintroduced to this tradition. But this morning I happened to be right next to post headquarters on the way back from the gym when Reveille was played. So instead of just facing the music, I was right there in view of the flagpole, standing at attention and saluting as I watched the flag being raised. That does something to me inside - always has and always will. It makes me think of what the flag stands for, and reminds me of why I'm proud to be an American. I suppose it might sound sappy to some people (although probably not to anyone who's bothering to take the time to read my writings here). In any case, I'm old fashioned in that way.

Because it's a shared ritual, it also makes me feel more a part of a community - cars stop and people get out and stand at attention, everyone's arm comes up in a salute, and you stand there for a few moments just being Americans and paying your respects to our flag. When it's over, the arms come down smartly and everyone goes about their business. In my case, there's a little more spring in my step afterwards. :-)

This morning I happened to notice that a couple of the nearby cars had Kuwaiti or TCN drivers and occupants. They stopped, but did not get out of their vehicles. That got me thinking about how our respect for our flag must appear to people from other countries. I don't know how they feel about their national symbols - I know that when I was in Germany you never, ever saw a German flag flying outside a private home or business. That was one of the most striking contrasts that I noticed when I returned home to the USA and drove through the countryside - almost every farm, home, and business had an American flag flying outside. The lack of flags may have just been because of Germany's unique history. I know that citizens of other countries certainly feel patriotic sentiment, and they may perhaps feel about their flags in a way similar to how we feel about ours.

But I sense that we Americans are different in that way. Our flag stands for more than just nationalism or jingoistic pride in a place. It stands for an idea (really a whole body of ideas), and at least for me, that is the source of the deep pride and respect - reverence, really - that it inspires in me. As I stood there saluting the flag this morning, in view of those people from other countries, I felt proud not only to be an American, but to be an American here in this place, and to be able to demonstrate the respect we pay to our national symbol and all that it stands for.

Mood: Proud
Music: Silence

I'm Proud of my Eagle Scout

Tuesday, 11/7/06
0600

My son Conor received his Eagle Scout award last night, and I'm very proud of him. :-)

The last thing I thought of when I went to sleep last night was that I wished I could be there, and the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning at 0500 was that he was probably still at the ceremony back in Michigan, since it was 9:00 PM there.

His grandparents came to be there for it, and I'm sure his mother also went, so it isn't as if he was alone. But scouting was pretty important to me both as a boy and as a father/scout leader, and so I really regret not being able to be there with him.

Like most boys his age, other interests (sports, girlfriend, music, friends, truck) plus the requirements of schoolwork made scouting less and less a part of his life and harder and harder to find time for. That's one of the reasons that so few scouts make it to Eagle, and one reason why I'm especially proud of him for sticking with it and achieving the award.

He's a good boy, and he's turning into a fine young man.

Congratulations, Conor!

Mood: Proud
Music: Reveille

Why Communism Failed

Sunday, 11/5/06
1700

Today is a nice slow day, about half work and half time for myself. I woke up at 0456 (I now wake up within five minutes either way of 0500, with or without an alarm). I finished my movie ("The Brothers Grimm", which got good reviews but which I thought was kind of silly and superficial), and got up and went to work about 0700. I spent the morning in the office, with a short break for breakfast (and lots of interruptions for typical stuff like tripped circuit breakers and "Do you have any _______?" type requests). I did manage to finish my "must do" tasks, though. Now my maintenance management system is complete, as are my inspection checklists for all our systems. (Of course, both are subject to change as they face the test of actual use).

The next step is to commence detailed inspections of everything and start getting work orders in to fix the stuff that's broken. Concurrent with that is my task to follow the loop through on the work orders that are already in, and see what ever happened to them. And of course there are a zillion other things to do. But now I can at least have a semi-intelligent reply when someone asks me "What is the status of our (name a system)?". Up until now it's been a seat-of-the-pants kind of thing.

I also found out this morning that a major industrial supplier I wanted to use is an approved DOD vendor, so I ought to be able to order some stuff we need without jumping through all kinds of elaborate hoops. That fact alone just about made my day! I hope to close that loop this week and actually get some needed supplies ordered. Our supply system is challenging, to say the least (see below...)

After lunch I retired to my room to write this and do a couple other things. Then I came over to the PX area to return my movie, have a cup of iced coffee, and read for awhile. I've started the book my CO gave me to read, called "Tipping Point". It's pretty good, and I'm sure I'll post a review when I'm done.

So what does all this have to do with the failure of communism? Well, in addition to the fact that it was morally abhorrent, communism failed because it just didn't work. And therein lies my story:

When I was in the Army in Germany in the early 1980’s, I became frustrated with the chronic shortages of certain very basic items at the PX. These were things that nearly every soldier needed, such as black bootlaces and AA batteries. I talked to the manager of the AAFES system in Frankfurt about it, and his reply was something like “we can only order a certain amount, and every time we get more, people just buy them all”. Well, duh!

(As an aside, it was while I was stationed in Germany that I acquired my habit of stockpiling fairly large quantities of everything I use at home, and replenishing those stockpiles periodically as they get low, but well before I run out.)

I wrote a letter to the Stars & Stripes (the military newspaper) which was published along with an official AAFES reply. They basically said they were doing the best they could, but that it was hard for their large, centrally-managed system to respond to local differences in demand.

The ironic thing about their reply was that this was the exact point I had made in my letter. We were over there defending the capitalist system of free enterprise and individual initiative against the communist system of state ownership and central planning, and yet the PX from which we had to buy our own personal supplies was an inefficient, centrally-planned bureaucracy. The AAFES officials either didn’t get the point or just ignored it.

Well, some things never change. Twenty-five years later, although we have a generally well-stocked PX, here is the shelf containing all the boot care products at the Military Clothing Sales Store (run by AAFES) here at Camp Arifjan:

*The results of central planning

Notice that, from left to right, we have leather dressing, waterproofing, black edge dressing, more black edge dressing, black leather dye, black polish, black leather boot care kits, Honor Guard (high gloss) black boot polish, more black boot polish, and yet more black boot polish.

The thing is, I haven’t seen a pair of black boots since I got over here. We all wear the tan suede-and-nylon desert boots that go with our desert uniforms. Kiwi makes boot care kits for these, and fortunately I bought one before leaving the US. (Yes, the AAFES stores in the States sell the desert boot care kits. We just don’t have any over here in the desert!) :-)

I talked to the PX manager about it, and his answer was “Yes, we know, but we are on the old Plan-O-Gram” (whatever the heck that is). It seems they have little or no control over what they get in, and just have to take whatever comes. The thing that cracks me up is that they even bothered to put it out on the shelf. That stuff could sit there until Kingdom Come, and nobody would buy any of it. (I wonder if their automated inventory control system will simply register that they don’t need any boot care products, since they are fully stocked? It actually *could* sit there until Kingdom Come!) Amazing.

Plus ca change, plus ce la meme chose...

Maybe we should let Wal-Mart come over here and take a crack at it.

Mood: Amused
Music: Franz Danzi - Bassoon Concertos