My Latest Hero

I have never been much for hero worship. The site of rabid fans going agog over a particular quarterback, a rock star, or an author, appears silly to me. I have appreciated or admired certain people, but I have rarely elevated them to the status of a hero. It is a very special honor that I have only conferred on a handful of people.

I have added a new name to the slim roll of my personal heroes. His name is Cpl. David P. Retske of the US Army. And, yes, he is related to me. In fact, he is my youngest son. He departed today to an undisclosed location (really) in Iraq. as part of the 19,000 other soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division, who are rotating back to that nascent democracy. Iraq is a troubled country, full of danger and death. I would be lying if I said that I was not worried. In fact, I am as scared as I can remember being. But, I am immensely proud of him. Proud to the point of hero worship.

To understand why his bravery has moved me so, let's go back the day it started – September 11, 2001. There is no need to rehash the horror and anger of that day, but, as it happens, the greatness in men is often born of tragedy. Late in the afternoon of that fateful day, David and several of his closest friends were watching the wall to wall coverage. At that point, we still did not know the enormity of the attack, or what would come out of it. Rescuers were heavily involved in what turned out to be a largely futile search for survivors. They believed that hundreds, or thousands, of survivors might be pulled from the wreckage. The sad truth was that not even many remains would be recovered.

Stunned and outraged by the heartless and unwarranted killing and destruction, David and a couple of his companions swore to become part of the solution, and to join the volunteer army. David scored high on pre-entrance tests, and had his choice, not only of which branch of the service he wanted to join, but what job he wanted. He could have played safe, relatively so, and joined the Air Force or Navy, whose recruiter wanted him so bad, he jokingly offered me a decommissioned battleship if I could convince David to become a sailor.

But David knew what he wanted and chose the Army. He wanted to be close to the action and directly engaged. The Army offered this, and he became a UAV – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or drone, pilot. After a year long tour in Korea, he is a crew chief with the fabulous flying model planes team. These incredible machines are taking an ever increasing role in the prosecution of the effort in Iraq, and elsewhere.

Even though David will probably not be clearing the streets of some Iraqi terrorist stronghold, being in Iraq is dangerous enough.

Whatever you may think about the advisability of US involvement in Iraq in the first place, we are there, and we must win. It is important for the US, the people of Iraq, the world, and the future of democracy. With heroes like David, I am confident we will win, although I may not sleep much for the next twelve months.