Good morning D-League. I hope everyone has an enjoyable Memorial Day.
It was my honor to get to know many impressive military people during my run as a conflict zone reporter. Some I remember today: Men like Lt. Comdr Scott Speicher, who I met on the USS Saratoga shortly before Operation Desert Storm. A few weeks after I met him in 1991 he was shot down over Baghdad. His body wasn't recovered for nearly 20 years.
And men like Lt. Col. Terry Crowe, who I met in Tal Afar Iraq in 2005. He had the thankless job of trying to train Iraqi soldiers, and that got him killed in an ambush. (I wrote this short piece about his death for the Houston Chronicle if anyone is interested. The format is a little choppy but should be readable - keep scrolling...)
And also Major Megan McClung, who was as Gung Ho as any Marine in Ramadi in 2006. I met her earlier in the year. She was later killed escorting journalists covering the war.
On that note, I knew quite a few journalists, some well enough to call them friend, who were killed in war zones or badly injured and still dealing with that. I don't want to take away from the military sacrifices today, but those men (and one woman) are missed as well.