Touched by History

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. -- I had the privilege on Sunday of participating for the second time in the annual Bataan Memorial Death March here at this sprawling Army military installation that occupies much of New Mexico south of the small city of Alamogordo.

As I did last year, I had the opportunity to meet the few remaining survivors of the original death march, which occurred in the Philippines in April 1942.

Some folks consider the event just another marathon, but for those of us who once answered the call to arms, this memorial march is exactly that -- a chance to reflect and remember, while putting one foot after another on an often grueling coarse.

As each of 5,000 marchers here left the assembly area on the main post, we passed by a line of survivors of the original march, such as 90-year-old Phillip Coon of Okemah, Okla., who shook the outstretched hands of all 5,000 of those marchers.

At the midpoint of the march, we met Philippine veterans again, their outstretched hands providing a boost to momentarily flagging spirits, and finally at the finish line, our hands met, a brief electric touch across generations of service.

I also touched part of my history, walking part of the way with Dan, a Marine from West Virginia, who lost a leg at An Hoa in Vietnam in 1967. He seemed to be doing better on the desert slog on his one leg and prosthesis than I was doing on my two original limbs.

I also encountered and touched soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Marines marveled at the fast moving team from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and they exchanged guten tag with what seemed to be at least 100 German soldiers across the course of the march.

Through it all, the spirit of comradeship and camaraderie prevailed -- words and sentiments that may seem hokey, but ones that flourished for a few brief hours here.

Those words also applied to the 4H Club at the base, which staffed the final water point at the finish line and put up posters of encouragement, providing a lift to tired muscles.

The memorial march is also a great equalizer. David Huntoon may wear three stars as the director of the Army Staff, but on the course he was just another soldier putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles. He finished that stretch in roughly six hours - the amount of time it took me to do just 15.2 miles. (I figure I'm about 10 years older than Huntoon.)

The Army, especially the folks who organize the march here, deserve a heartfelt "Hooah" for once again getting it right.