Remembering

"Plane in the water, port side..."


An E-2 Hawkeye flew directly into the water while executing a "wave off" from the deck of an aircraft carrier, our first night in the Adriatic Sea after a rugged trans-atlantic crossing and full day of turnover with the outgoing carrier. Pilots who successfully landed that night described the weather like descending through a bowl of milk into total darkness with no visible horizon. As the E-2 flew over the ramp on final the Landing Signal Officer directed a foul-deck waveoff. The Hawkeye went to full power, climbed straight ahead for less than a minute, then nosed over into the water. Five souls were lost to the sea that night.


Remembering.


"Man overboard, man overboard..."


A young sailor inadvertently walked behind an F-14 Tomcat just as the pilot powered up the engine to begin his taxi to the takeoff spot. The resultant jet blast blew the unsuspecting sailor over the side and into the Red Sea. He probably died when he hit the water sixty feet below the deck. A helo rescue team recovered him shortly, but when they attempted to lift him by his float coat into the aircraft, his limp body slipped through the coat, plummeted back to the sea, and sank.


Remembering.


"There's been a midair..."


Two F-18 Hornets collided during a night refueling over the Arabian Gulf. One pilot successfully ejected and was rescued. The other pilot's broken body was recovered by a British ship, then flown back to the carrier where we conducted the initial post-mortem examination. Our entire medical team suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after that event. We didn't recognize it in ourselves till months later.


Remembering.


"She was shot while jogging..."


A young, dynamic lieutenant professional whom I had known at Bethesda was shot and killed by a sniper in Afghanistan. A non-combatant deployed only to help that nation rebuild its medical infrastructure, she was brutally murdered while jogging inside the security of the base. She left behind a young family.


Remembering.


Such memories, and millions like them around the world, give life to the parades and flags and speeches and news clips punctuating Memorial Day. This day is not about external symbols, much less about a day off for the mall or beach. 


Real people really died. Each had personal and mostly private reasons for being where they were when death found them. Whatever those reasons, they paid the ultimate price.


And what of those living real people left behind, whose lives changed forever through untimely loss? They continue to pay. Is the price right for them?


We in public service, and indeed all Americans, have a solemn duty to make it right. We must remember the prices paid, and we must not squander our hard won freedom. American core values must endure. Otherwise these and millions of others shall have died in vain.


Remembering...