August 25, 2011 was the date of the Seal's Memorial held in Virginia Beach. I wanted to attend, even though I had other responsibilities at home in Durham, North
Carolina. My meeting didn't end that night at the hospital until after 8pm, so I hurried home to northern Durham, and mounted my already prepared motorcycle for the first leg of the journey.
Riding at night is something I don't like to do. Vision is not always the best, and if you go fast enough (I'm not exactly certain how fast that is) you can "over-ride" your light, and not have adequate distance to stop before a collision. Anyway, as usual with these "missions," this was an important one for me, and I was determined to make it there to pay my respect to these brave soldiers.
As I made it to Interstate 85, and gunned it up to about 70mph, I took a good look around--it was dark (and fortunately not a stormy night)! I worried about that, but compensated with some EXTRA vigilance. The one advantage was that there weren't many cars on the road at that time, so I didn't have to watch out for the careless driver. I always follow the rule that "they don't see me" and I think that's a good rule. But at night, it's not the drivers I worry about. It's the animals!
I only saw a couple of deer on the side of the road on my way up--I spent the night
in Emporia, Va.--and they seemed to stay there because of the noise my bike made. Found a Sleep Inn, and hit the sack about 11pm.
I knew the next morning was going to be an early one, as the "briefing" for the mission to the Memorial was going to be at 7am, so I got up at 5, and prepaired to leave at 5:30. The ride should take about 1 and 1/2 hours according to my GPS, and if I pushed it a bit, I might even get there a bit early.
On the road that morning it was still dark, but I was riding east, and I could see the dawn beginning to develop as I rode along US 58. There are numerous police along this road, so I had to be careful. Heading into the populated area of Va. Beach, heightened my awareness because of all the drivers on their way to work: in a hurry, talking on the phone, listening to the radio, and dreaming of their day's work ahead. Again, "they just don't see me."
They had changed the place of the staging the night before to a Big K parking lot on 1st Colonial Drive, and when I approached that location, I was pleased to see a mass of motorcycles. I pulled in and listened as the mission was described.
There is always an emphasis on safety with these missions because no one wants any accidents and riding with a line of 100+ motorcycles through an urban environment has its hazards. I later found out that the final location for the Memorial was kept "secret" until just prior to the event. I'm not certain why, except the possible risk of a demonstration-- by the Kansas wackos or someone else that does not understand the sacrifices of our military and the sensitivities of family members caught in such tragedies.
Once the briefing was completed, we mounted up and left for the convention center in Virginia Beach. Pulling onto the main drag in front of this massive building, the 1000 sailors from the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt presented a magnificent spectacle: standing at attention about three feet apart along the curb with their smart navy blue dress uniforms. We parked our bikes, and dismounted, forming a like line on the opposite side of the street with each of us holding a 3x5 American flag.
As I stood there, pondering the enormity of this event, I couldn't but help to think about the many aspects of this experience. Studying the uniforms of the sailors, I became aware of the many decorations (red stripes, green stripes--not certain what they are actually called-- different hats, different stripes on different locations on their uniforms and insignias on their sleeves). I have never been in the military, but it was clear that each person in the military knew the rank of everyone they ran into simply by what they were wearing. Everyone had their "place" in this system, and that, I believe, gives it a special sense of social order; something needed when you are in combat.
It civilian life we "try" to do the same thing, don't we? We do it by the clothes we wear, or the jewelery we wear, or the car we drive, or where we live, or the big one is what we DO! But when you finally come down to it, it doesn't get to the most important part of each one of us, and that's what we ARE--What is our moral compass, our sensitivities, our emotions, our personality. That's all that is important in the end isn't it.
I was honored to go there and stand for these heroes. I was fortunate enough to
receive a copy of the program for the service. It is sad to read. Each one of these heroes was very highly trained, young, highly decorated, and from my perspective represented the best and the brightest that our military has to offer. They left many children without a father, and wives without a husband, and they were young enough, that they left parents without a son. What a sad, sad loss. I was glad I took the time (glad I had the time) to go there and pay my respects in any way I could. I hope we all take the time to do that in our own way.
I have thought about these deaths now in some detail, and obviously, I don't know all the facts, but from my perspective, this catastrophe could be avoided by following one simple rule: "don't put all your eggs in one basket."
Now I'll admit that I don't know how urgent the need was for reinforcements, and what was available to accomplish this goal, but next time it might be wise to send them in in smaller helicopters, one at a time, to see what the situation is. My guess is that that's being considered.
My readers don't have the program for the Memorial as I do, and you can't read about these individuals that were taken in this accident. I can only tell you that they don't make 'em any better. God bless them and their families and all our thanks, gratitude and respect to them and their families for their ultimate sacrifice for all of us.
