|
Memorial
Day Special
Honor those who have
given their lives in serving our country --
find Memorial Day commentary, facts, and more.
|
|
|
|
May 21, 2004
 Email
this page to friends
Story by Spc. Scott
Akanewich
CAMP WOLVERINE, Kuwait--Memorial Day is
a time for remembrance, when Americans set an entire day aside to
honor those who have fallen in every conflict from the Revolutionary
War all the way up to the current War on Terror. This is a celebration
that bridges the gap between generations of Americans from the young
boy whose grandfather fought on the beaches of Normandy to the family
of the young Soldier who fell during the taking of Baghdad.
For Soldiers of the 54th Quartermaster Company, however, every day
is Memorial Day.
These Soldiers are tasked with facing
the grim realities of war in the form of preparing their fallen
brothers and sisters-in-arms for the long trip home to be reunited
with the loved ones whose freedom they left home to defend.
 |
| Memorial
Day honors those who have fallen in every conflict from the
Revolutionary War all the way up to the current War on Terror. |
Staff Sgt. Seth Brawley is one of those
Soldiers. He, along with his comrades, receive fallen warriors almost
every day at the mortuary affairs compound on Camp Wolverine.
According to Brawley, it takes a unique type of individual to function
under these circumstances on a daily basis.
"It takes a very strong person to do this nature of work," said
Brawley. "You need to be especially strong emotionally because of
what you see."
The 54th Quartermaster Co. is the only active duty mortuary affairs
unit in the Army. They are the evacuation hub for the entire Operation
Iraqi Freedom theater.
The company is on-call twenty-four hours per day, seven days per
week. At any hour of the day or night, the call could come that
a flight transporting deceased troops is on its way. Just the previous
night, Brawley and his troops were up until 4 a.m. working.
|
Pfc. Mari-Ann Lopez, 54th Quartermaster
Co., mortuary affairs specialist, realizes that the responsibilities
she has have no set hours.
"I've been up for three days before," said Lopez, a Los Angeles
native who recently voluntarily extended for an additional six months
in theater after serving a six-month tour in Iraq. "They get here
when they get here."
Lopez also acknowledges the mental scars that are sometimes caused
by what she and her fellow Soldiers are witness to.
"I'll never forget the things I've seen," she said. "Each day you
see human remains. You've got to be right in your head. Not everybody
can do it."
Brawley, a veteran of mortuary affairs, admits that although he
has a myriad of experience in his field, it still affects him.
"I've been doing this for 12 years and it gets easier," he said.
"But it's never easy."
However, that being said, Brawley said he doesn't let his emotions
get in the way, because he can't.
"It doesn't affect my morale because it's a job and I'm here to
do it," he said.
Lopez recalls the first time she handled a casualty on this, her
first deployment.
"The first time I saw a Soldier in the same uniform as me, it was
hard," she said. "It hits home."
Brawley does find a lone reward in this most solemn of duties, he
said.
"There's a degree of job satisfaction when you evacuate a Soldier
and the next stop will be with their families," said Brawley.
Satisfaction aside, though, he'd just as soon he and his crew have
no duties to perform.
"We want to be bored, days when we have no business," he said. "There
have been a few."
On this Memorial Day, in a year when more U.S. troops have died
in the line of duty than in any other since the Vietnam War, the
solemn Soldiers of the 54th Quartermaster Co. will be at their post.
They, along with Americans everywhere, will honor the memory of
those who have died. Maybe, just maybe, they'll have a day off.
© 2004. All opinions expressed in this
article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of
Military.com.
|
