Time to Reflect

On Monday, we will (hopefully) stop to pause and remember those we have sent into harms way, and here are my reflections:

Marines

I had the privilege to serve in the comm platoon of three Marine infantry units, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment; 2nd Battalion, Ninth Marines; and 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 1963-1967, and consider this the key experience of my life.

Even though time has dimmed some memories of those years, I still remember some friends who in my mind's eye will always remain young, including Rex Dieterle, Miles Gullingsruud, Larry Leal, Joel Engebretsen, Tom Wilmot and our long suffering platoon sergeant, Herbierto Gonzalez.

My wife Deborah has met most of these folks, and agrees that Sgt. Gonzalez had ample reason for his long suffering. (A hint to reporters covering politicians claiming Vietnam service: ask to meet their platoon mates.)

I also had the pleasure to serve as the radio operator for Maj. Cornelius Ram -- the finest company commander a Marine could wish for -- who perished while trying to save the lives of fellow Marines on Jan. 10, 1971, in an operation in Vietnam.

Two other Marine friends deserve mention here:

Leon Daniel , a veteran of the Chosin Reservoir campaign in Korea. Leon then went on to a long career covering wars (and the civil rights movement) for UPI.

He served as the last UPI bureau chief in Vietnam, and instead of bugging out with other reporters when the North entered Saigon on April 30, 1975, Leon stayed on for close to a month and continued to report until the new management booted him out of the country.

Leon served as a guide, mentor and true pal during the decade he and I lived on the Hill.

Lewis B. Puller Jr. , author of the Pulitzer Prize winning biography Fortunate Son , whom I met at the Home Box Office "Welcome Home Concert" on July 4, 1987, at the now defunct Cap Center. He extended the hand of friendship in the spirit of "Semper Fidelis" until his deah in 1994.

Lew, quite simply, touched me with grace.

Army

My Army Vietnam veteran buddy, Dennis Shaw, asked me to give "a good thought to the boys of Recon Platoon, Echo Company, 1st of the 20th Infantry Battalion, 11th Brigade, Americal Division, near Duc Pho, Quang Nai Province."

Done Dennis - and yes, we were boys.

Dennis continues his service today by working with soldiers from the current war suffering from traumatic brain injury at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

I also need to give a nod to my friend George Wright, an Army Grenada veteran who now works in the Army's public affairs shop in the Pentagon, and serves as a valuable sounding board for this sometimes cranky reporter.

Navy

Capt. Dave Wray, commander of the Joint Public Affairs Support Element in Suffolk, Va., whom I have known for more than 20 years and has done two ground tours in Iraq.

Dave, like George Wright, provides me with some good compass headings so I don't veer off track.

And, since the Pentagon is a midsized village, Dave, Lew Puller and I had lunch together at least once a month for more than five years.

State Department

Abigail Friedman

I have known - and loved - Abigail Friedman, a State Department Foreign Service officer working with provincial reconstruction teams out of Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan, and her husband Eric Passaglia, for more than two decades and salute them both for their service.

Abigail gets a well deserved "hooah" for her work in Afghanistan, and Eric gets another for the equally tough job of taking care of the kids, Martha, Abe and Sam.

Family

Finally - because service in my family is generational - a salute to my father, Walter Brewin, who served in the Army Air Corps in the Philippines and Okinawa in World War II and my father-in-law, William Suess, a tin-can sailor in both the Atlantic and Pacific in The Big One.

Your Honor Roll

Do you have anyone you want to honor? Send in names, dates and branch of service and I'll post them here.