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Monday last was the funeral for Ryan Jopek, one of the many National Guardsmen from our town who are serving in the Gulf. Ryan is actually the second service man we've lost. Three months ago Grant Dampier was killed in Afghanistan.
It was a beautiful and heartbreaking funeral. Ryan was 20 and everyone loved the kid. His father, also a member of the guard, had been in Iraq earlier in the year. Dampier left a wife and three young children behind. My mom had Grant's wife in school and Ryan's younger brother, Steve, is a member of my husband's gaming group. Such are the connections in a small town.
Everyone wants to make political hay over these things, even if most do it with the best intentions. The Governor spoke at Ryan's funeral and even more politicians sent comments and condolences. The Jopek's are a military family and therefore it was a full military funeral. The Dampier family was more subdued, but he still had full honors and a military send off, even if the Governor didn't show for that one. Grant's wife said he would have hated the fuss that was made over his funeral as it was, so there you go.
The rest of the National Guardsmen are due back from the Middle East this weekend. The town is decorated with yellow ribbons and flags and I know a lot of people who aren't sleeping well until the plane touches down. The Army is allowing the troops to be debriefed in their home towns, due mostly, I'm sure, to the loss of Ryan so close to the end.
It's odd, really, the feeling of sadness and anticipation. It's not at all the way a homecoming should be and it seems unfair that our little town should lose two to this war. But since life – and death – is never fair to begin with, we all just have to deal with what comes.
We are never as isolated from the world's happenings as we would like to think. Five years ago Ken and Jane Oswald (who own a bed and breakfast here in town) lost their son, Jason, in the attack on the World Trade Center. His body was never found and I don't recall any politicians coming for his memorial service.
Death is so often trivialized and used for propaganda in our world today. It's a tragedy plied to boost ratings and prove points. I don't know what it all means, I just know that maybe, at the end of this weekend, there will be more peace and less worry in my small part of the world. And I hope that, in same way, the Jopeks, Dampiers and Oswalds can find some comfort from that.
It was a beautiful and heartbreaking funeral. Ryan was 20 and everyone loved the kid. His father, also a member of the guard, had been in Iraq earlier in the year. Dampier left a wife and three young children behind. My mom had Grant's wife in school and Ryan's younger brother, Steve, is a member of my husband's gaming group. Such are the connections in a small town.
Everyone wants to make political hay over these things, even if most do it with the best intentions. The Governor spoke at Ryan's funeral and even more politicians sent comments and condolences. The Jopek's are a military family and therefore it was a full military funeral. The Dampier family was more subdued, but he still had full honors and a military send off, even if the Governor didn't show for that one. Grant's wife said he would have hated the fuss that was made over his funeral as it was, so there you go.
The rest of the National Guardsmen are due back from the Middle East this weekend. The town is decorated with yellow ribbons and flags and I know a lot of people who aren't sleeping well until the plane touches down. The Army is allowing the troops to be debriefed in their home towns, due mostly, I'm sure, to the loss of Ryan so close to the end.
It's odd, really, the feeling of sadness and anticipation. It's not at all the way a homecoming should be and it seems unfair that our little town should lose two to this war. But since life – and death – is never fair to begin with, we all just have to deal with what comes.
We are never as isolated from the world's happenings as we would like to think. Five years ago Ken and Jane Oswald (who own a bed and breakfast here in town) lost their son, Jason, in the attack on the World Trade Center. His body was never found and I don't recall any politicians coming for his memorial service.
Death is so often trivialized and used for propaganda in our world today. It's a tragedy plied to boost ratings and prove points. I don't know what it all means, I just know that maybe, at the end of this weekend, there will be more peace and less worry in my small part of the world. And I hope that, in same way, the Jopeks, Dampiers and Oswalds can find some comfort from that.
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Date: 2006-08-19 04:56 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-08-25 09:21 am (UTC)From:And, so, for many people here, I think, unless they knew the person personally the dead person is just another number.
And maybe that's when wars get the most dangerous, when they aren't friends, family, co-workers who die; when it's just a number.
My sister's fiancee is possibly getting called up sometime this year. As he is a major in the AF in a maintenance unit I don't know that he would see any fighting, but he'd still be going over to a war zone where people will hate him for being American.