"They can give us resolutions until their resolution making machine breaks down.”
– Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, responding to the threat of additional sanctions on his country in response to a new missile test (full article here in the Washington Post)
(Hat tip: Patrick)
Rated: NR | 1 hr 40 min | 2008 | Starring: Kevin Bacon | |||
This movie, which I have alluded to in several previous posts (the first of which is here), presents an unbiased look at the experiences of a Marine officer escorting the remains of a fellow Marine killed in Iraq home for burial in 2004. I read the original article that the movie was based on when it ran in the Marine Corps Gazette a few years back. You can read it here at the Chance Phelps Foundation website (the formatting on this web page is not the best, making it a little hard to read).
I thought the movie stayed pretty true to what I remember from the article. What you get is an unbiased look at what happens when our service members killed overseas are brought back home: first, transport from overseas and arrival at Dover Air Force Base, where the remains are then made presentable (or as presentable as possible, depending on the extent to which their mortal wounds have or have not made that possible - Phelps' funeral was closed-casket, upon the recommendation of the mortuary affairs crew at Dover). It is at Dover that the remains are met by their escorts - other service members from all services and varied rank. It is noted in the movie that it is abnormal for such a senior officer - a lieutenant colonel - to escort the remains of such a junior Marine (Phelps was a private first class at the time of his death, posthumously promoted to the rank of lance corporal), but the mission is one of catharsis for Lieutenant Colonel Strobl, played by Kevin Bacon. He is an artillery officer, veteran of Desert Storm / Shield, who had missed out on serving in Iraq. Now a manpower analyst working from a cubicle at Quantico, he sees the Phelps' name on the Department of Defense casualty listings, and notes that they are from the same part of the country. This is the genesis of Strobl's volunteering for the escort duty.
It seemed to me that Strobl's feelings of "survivor's guilt" (so to speak) about not being "in the fight" were a bit overblown in the movie. In some ways I have dealt with the same types of feelings, knowing that some of my contemporaries who received different orders out of The Basic School have already served two or more tours in Iraq by this point (and I have served but one, and a truncated one at that), but it is important to keep perspective on things. I also deployed to the southern Philippines and served a year in a demanding aide-de-camp job that yes, wasn't a deployment, but the frequent travel sometimes made it seem almost like one. We all do our part, and although our parts are different, I think the realistic among us maintain the attitude that it is only a matter of time until it is our turn to deploy again. Right now I am a year into three years of not deploying while I am in the Olmsted Scholar Program, and for that I am grateful. I know that when this tour is over, I will return to a deployable unit, and expect that I will be deployed, be it to Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, or wherever duty calls. The difference for Strobl, though, is that he was getting quite close to retirement. I can't say with any experience how that changes things, although I would imagine that it tends to intensify the feelings of being somehow inadequate for not "going" (deploying). With the amount of time I have left in uniform, I don't think I need to worry about this problem.
Some of the reviews of the movie I read prior to seeing it myself warned to keep a box of tissues nearby, and I think you would be hard pressed to say that there are not a few scenes in the movie where the possibility of induced tears is quite real. Don't let this dissuade you from watching this movie. I highly recommend it. You will likely be affected by the diligence and care that the mortuary affairs workers at Dover put into restoring and cleaning the personal effects of the deceased; their careful, almost reverential cleaning and preparing of the bodies; ensuring the uniforms of the fallen are perfect in all cases, regardless of whether or not the funeral services will be closed casket; and the respect and dignity shown by the living service members to the deceased at all stages of their transport from where they fell to their final resting places in Small Town, USA. Although these are dramatized versions of what really goes on, remember these images when the press whirlwind gets going about bans on photos of the caskets of the returning service members (a restriction that is no longer in effect).
The best part about this movie is that it doesn't take sides. It shows you what happens, the respect and dignity involved in the process, and allows you to make up your own mind. This is a formula that more movies should employ.
Available: in stores now (released on DVD 12 May 09). Originally aired on HBO. The copy I watched was courtesy of Netflix. I plan to purchase a copy of this movie for my personal collection (I probably buy a movie (DVD) every 3 years or so, so it may tell you something about what I thought of the movie).
GJS
"The state that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools."
-Thucydides
This morning, John came out from spending some alone time in his room (of his own volition) looking a tad "thick" around his hips. He couldn't even walk without a little waddling and wagging of his bottom, so thoroughly was he padded. What gave? A bit of investigation quickly uncovered that the lad was wearing 14 pairs of underwear!!! Putting on multiple sets of clothing is something that he likes to do, for some reason. I'd seen him put on multiple pairs of underwear in the past, but I think the most I had seen was something like half a dozen or so pairs, excessive but not ridiculous. This was out of control! The situation was soon well in hand, and he was back to a single pair of drawers.
GJS
…for this man, who flew to San Francisco two weeks ago specifically to visit the new California Academy of Sciences museum, where this photo was taken (oh yeah, and to get some miles on his airline of choice). Why? He is 30 years old today. Happy birthday! (Your gift is in the mail. I have, ahem, "responded in kind" to the gift you recently sent for my birthday. Hope you like it!)
You may be wondering, what was he looking at in the above picture? (Besides the funny man taking the photo, that is.) Maybe this:
(It's some people "underwater" – there is a "capsule" on the lower level of the museum, in the aquarium, where you can actually "get into" the exhibit – essentially pop your head up into the reef display. It's pretty cool.) Or maybe this:
This last photo is of an albino alligator. I thought it was fake when I first saw it, so outlandish an appearance it has. A placard nearby the display explained that the way you can tell if what you are looking at is actually an albino versus a non-albino white alligator (?) is the pink-colored eyes the real deal has. Oh, of course, why didn't I pick up on that sooner? J
GJS
I wasn't able to get any cycling in last weekend due to our celebration of John's 3rd birthday, my birthday, and Mother's Day (lots of things to celebrate in our house around this time of year!), but today I reversed the trend, powering through a long ride of over 50 miles. Here are the stats:
50.18 miles
3:06:36 time elapsed
16.1 mph avg speed
3159 total calories (I'm going to be ready for a big supper tonight!)
Legs were pretty fried by the end. Good thing there is still about 2 months until the century ride in San Jose (12 July) – I'm certainly going to need the time to prepare.
Weather was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky. Cool temps near the coast, but by the time that I got inland about 10 miles, I felt like I was riding into a furnace (the differences between the coastal temperatures and those inland can vary by tens of degrees).
Here's a little map chip of my route:
GJS
Time for a fresh look. This layout will allow more room for my text to fill your screen. Let me know what you think.
GJS
I've thought quite a lot about what I would like this blog to be. Now it is sort of a hybrid of a personal (family stuff) blog and a "business" (military matters and other current events, as the spirit moves me) blog, all mixed together. I recently came across another blog that does a good job of separating the two realms from one another (actually, this newfound blog's got 3 partitions). It's done by separating the different disciplines really into separate blogs and using hyperlinks at the top of the pages to connect them. Not really rocket science, I know, but this is the first time I had actually seen a blog that divided these things up in about the same way that I have been thinking about doing. Further, the personal blog is username and password protected, something I have been mulling over doing to this website for some time as well. (It's no secret that too much exposure of the details of one's personal and family business "in the clear" like this can become a liability in short order.) It's done on the same Blogger.com "chassis" as Garblog. I can see from this blog that the types of changes I have been mulling over are do-able. After all this, what is this blog? It's Building Peace. If you're thinking that this must be some nutty left-wing peacenik blog, you're wrong. It's actually the blog of a fellow 2009 Olmsted Scholar who I have probably met at least once, and although we were students at DLI at the same time for about the past year or so (him in Arabic, me in Chinese), I don't really know him. It's too bad, because it doesn't take reading too many of the posts to determine this fellow is pretty smart. I only recently came across Building Peace, so I have yet to read the majority of the posts, but I plan to get to all of them in time. I like the level of detail that he goes into in discussing whatever topic it is that is at issue – not too much, not too little. He touches on a variety of things, from those relating to Middle Eastern affairs, military education, DoD internet use and blogging policies, and more. And he is a good writer. In all, a nice piece of work, that Building Peace blog is. It may be the direction Garblog is heading in. We shall see – stay tuned.
GJS
"If you put your hand in my pocket, you'll drag back six inches of bloody stump."
-Author and screenwriter Harlan Ellison on digital piracy (taken from an article in the 11 May 2009 edition of the New York Times, which you can read in full here)
Today DLI held a "language day" to show off what goes on there to high school students from around the region in the hopes of building interest in learning about foreign countries, their cultures, and languages (read more about past iterations of the event here or here, or better yet, check out this video news report about last year's program). This brought the unexpected windfall of a day off of class for me and my 2 tongxue (fellow students). Many of our sister classes were involved with the festivities, preparing skits and presentations to perform, but one of the (few) perks of the accelerated 50-week course that I am in is that we are generally excluded from those type of "extracurricular" requirements. I guess they feel sorry for us in all that we already have to do on a compressed timeline. I was able to take advantage of this day off and accompany John to his morning playgroup – just me and him! Mom got to go off and do other things for once – a nice break for her, too. Please enjoy a couple photos I took with my mobile phone this morning at the playgroup.
I am also working this afternoon on planning for our move. There are myriad administrative and logistical requirements for an overseas move well in excess of the "usual" stuff one experiences in a typical military move from one location in the continental US to another also in "CONUS". Should have most of it pretty much squared away by the end of the month, including medical and dental, setting up the movers, travel arrangements, etc.
GJS
Sorry, only one "teaser" pic for you here. Hopefully there will be time this weekend to put some more up here. Looks like he is having fun, doesn't he?
First time back out on the pavement since the marathon. Couldn't help it, the weather was beautiful, I got out of class early, and tonight's homework is (gasp!) light. I will probably sleep like a baby tonight after the less than 3 mile run. Ran it slow, too – same pace as what I ran the marathon in. Oh, and I pushed John in the jogger stroller. C'mon, you didn't think I would take it THAT easy on myself, did you? J My legs will be sore tomorrow, but it's a good soreness, don't you think?
…was released today on DVD. Netflix will have it at my house tomorrow. I will watch it this weekend and let you know what I think of it. I think it is unlikely that I will not be a fan.
GJS
You can see an assortment here. These are from the commercial photographer who had the contract to take photos of all the marathon participants, and no endorsement of this company by me is implied or specified.
We didn’t take any photos of our own at the event, so this is all there will be.
GJS
4:05:51, 9:23/mi pace. Full details are here (select “Marathon” in the upper left hand drop-down menu, then enter my bib number, 506). Not my best work, but in my corner is that this marathon course was by far the most difficult I have run. This may come as something in the TMI (“too much information”) department, but one of the things that slowed me down was that I was unable to evacuate my bowels prior to the race, so I had to stop at a porta-potty at about 5.5 miles into the race. Take away the 5+ minutes that I was delayed there and I achieve my goal of a 4 hour finish.
That wasn’t the only complication, though (never is, is it?). The course is a point-to-point race (i.e. starting at one place, and running to a completely different place; it does not end where it started), going from Big Sur south of Monterey and running north along the Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. The scenery was a beautiful as advertised, and so was the challenges presented by the terrain. For a better idea about the race route and, more critically, the terrain profile, click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page. I want to talk a little bit about a place called Hurricane Point. This is a hill, about 2 miles long, that starts at mile 10 and goes through mile 12 or so. It’s grade is about 5% and reportedly is one of the steepest and longest in any marathon. I was warned about this place – “don’t go up that hill too fast, and especially don’t run down the back side of it too fast, you’ll blow out your quads!” What can I say, I can’t keep myself from powering up a hill, even one that is 2 miles long! I won the battle against the hill, not having to take a walk break going up it, and I listened to the advice about taking it easy down the backside. But in the end, the hill won the war. I didn’t realize how much that hill had taken out of my until about mile 17, when my legs just didn’t want to play the game anymore. The rolling hills of the last 10 miles were pretty tough for me. Did I mention that there was a still headwind from the north throughout the race? That did not help things, either.
Even with all that, I am pleased with my overall performance on this “moderately difficult” (their terminology, not mine) course. This was my first full marathon since the Honolulu Marathon in 2005. I have now completed five full marathons – Twin Cities (2002), Lincoln (2003), Marine Corps (2003), Honolulu (2005), and now this one. Until about a month before the race, my training and preparation for this one had by far been better than for all previous marathons. Then the “train came off the track,” so to speak, and I tried to salvage what I could of my fitness in order to complete today’s race. In that respect, completing the marathon in the time I did was an accomplishment in and of itself.
It’s time for some rest! I hope to be back on here soon.
GJS
再见，
沙普瑞
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