Friday mornings at the Pentagon

[gkainz]

Friday Mornings at the Pentagon

By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY McClatchy Newspapers
...
Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that is war. Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded and facing months or years in military hospitals.

This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and former roommate, Army Lt. Col. Robert Bateman , who recently completed a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq and is now back at the Pentagon.

Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known ceremony that fills the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon with cheers, applause and many tears every Friday morning. It first appeared on May 17 on the Weblog of media critic and pundit Eric Alterman at the Media Matters for America Web site.

...

"These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are our brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on, every single Friday, all year long, for more than four years." Did you know that? The media hasn't told the story.

(Copyright 2007 by Robert Bateman)

click here for the full story http://www.drudgeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=10125&mode=linear

 

[RotaryWingBob]

Thanks for posting that, Greg. I just wish there were more Joe Galloways letting people know about things like this.

As an aside, I met Joe when he was the guest speaker at a 5/7 1st Cav reunion some years back. He is very, very supportive of our troops. He is also one of only two journalists ever to receive a Bronze Star with "V" device for his valor at Io Drang.

 

[flybill7]

Thanks for posting this.