Thank you, John.

John Edwards has suspended his campaign.
My first reaction was of disappointment; I really thought this might be when we start to turn things back around in America... and maybe it will be, but it's less likely now. I don't know what precipitated his decision to withdraw today, six days before Super Tuesday with absentee ballots already in the mail, but I give him the benefit of the doubt; I owe him that.
The watchword of his campaign is "Tomorrow Begins Today," and that resonated with me; we don't have to, nor should we, wait until January, 2009, to change America. Since my association with his One Corps organization I've stirred myself to spend a hot day on a Habitat for Humanity build site, I've started getting out on Sunday mornings and helping to set up the Arlington West site in Santa Monica, and I've become a Red Cross Disaster Services volunteer. Having been inertially challenged all my life, I owe John and Elizabeth Edwards a huge debt of gratitude.
I'm not going to campaign for Barack Obama... I still don't know how much of him is sizzle and how much is steak... but I wish him well and I hope there's something to him. For John and Elizabeth, fair winds and following seas.

"All I know is what I read in the funny papers."

I want to mention "A Town Called Dobson" to whomever might be passing through here. January 22nd's post sang to me, of course, but it's usually right on the money from my point of view.
Go see what you think of it.

None of My Damn Business

Today, of course, is the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. My comment here will be brief:
I believe that a woman's body is her own; it is not for me or for anyone other than that woman to decide whether or not she may terminate a pregnancy. There is a line, I think, between abortion and infanticide later in a pregnancy, but I don't think it's for me to say that conception defines a woman and her available choices regarding her person. I am eternally thankful that my daughter made the choice that she did, but I am also thankful that she had the choice.
Check out this post by Maya's Granny.

When I Was Young

It's been a long time since I've consciously dredged up memories from my 26th year, but both Ronni Bennett and Kay Dennison have posted a meme to list five things we never thought, at age 25, that we would become. It took me back.
I don't remember June, 1972, although I'm reasonably sure drinking was involved. (If I've ever been a role model, it was not in my 26th year.) I was assigned to the air wing about to deploy again in USS Ranger, so there would have been significant predeployment activity as well as working in the medical records room at the Branch Clinic. I did get married for the first time in August... don't ask... and then in September we were embarked and underway for nine months.
Deployments at that time were broken up between time in Subic Bay for refitting and time in the Tonkin Gulf... primariy in the north... incentivizing the Vietnamese to negotiate with us. To make a long story short, we appeared to have been effective because by the end of January the Paris Peace Accords had been signed. I have to say that standing out in the middle of the flight deck during flight operations with a small first aid kit seemed a little nuts, but after the cease-fire I was able to play a little. One night I helped change out a CSD and generator in a F-4J Phantom II, and the damn thing just flew and flew; but we did some good medicine out there, too.
In February, 1973, we visited Hong Kong and, on the last day there, I was to take the Advancement Exam for Chief for the first time. Basically all I had to do was show up on time and sober and I had a shot at making Chief in eight years; but I didn't do that, of course. Later that spring we visited Singapore and crossed the Equator, and finally stopped in Yokosuka on the way home.
1. I never imagined that I would be married three more times or end up alone. I was not surprised that X-1 and I didn't remain married, but I retained the illusion that I could commit and settle down. (I just wasn't ready yet.)
2. I never thought I would wind up as an administrator. If someone had told me that I would argue myself out of a PA school seat in 1981 to take an admin slot in San Diego, I'd have said they were nuts. I never thought I wouldn't be able to find a job doing what I loved.
3. I never thought I would live in L.A. county. Honestly, the future was not a huge priority with me, but San Diego people don't move to Los Angeles. It did not occur to me until much later that finding a job in San Diego might prove to be a challenge. By 1972, going back to Iowa was just out of the question.
4. I never thought I would clean up. I never thought I would run, and I sure never thought I would run a marathon, but I wound up finishing four before I broke my leg in 2005. I smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish at 25; but I was pretty skinny. When I thought about it at all, I thought I might be the guy wandering around the Gaslamp early on Sunday mornings.
5. Of course, I never imagined the internet in 1972. I never thought I'd have conversations with people on four continents; this has been an extraordinary gift. In the same vein, I never imagined most of the technologic advances in medicine... fiberoptics, laparoscopic procedures, nano-technology... and now that we can do some of these things, we still tend to avoid the larger question: Should we?
That's all for now. I'm not comfortable looking back; it's enough to know that I screwed up without dwelling on it.

A Word for HM3 Mark R. Cannon

Petty Officer Third Class Mark R. Cannon, 31, of Lubbock, Texas died Oct. 2, 2007, from a gunshot wound to the chest while conducting combat operations in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.
Doc Cannon was a hospital corpsman assigned to 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Semper Fi.

In Memory of HM2 Charles Luke Milam

Petty Officer Second Class Charles Luke Milam, 26, of Littleton, Colo., died September 25, 2007, while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Doc Milam was a hospital corpsman assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He graduated from Columbine High School in Littleton in 1999, the year of the shootings, and enlisted that summer. He had served three tours in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan this time.
Semper Fi.

I Can't See from Where I Sat

I know I said I was going to blog over there from then on; however, stuff happens.

I don't know whether it's WordPress or Globat, but "The View From Where I Sit" is offline at least for the time being. As I think about it, I'm probably okay with that because I'm okay with Blogger, but I hope I can at least recover some of the posts and the non-spam comments.

A Little Perspective on the War in Iraq

A hat-tip to Sean Dustman at Doc in the Box for pointing me to the blog post that Andy Olmsted left behind.

Andy died of wounds from small arms fire in As Sadiyah, Iraq, on January 3, 2008. He left behind his wife and his parents.

I think he spoke for a lot of men and women when he wrote:

I'm a soldier and I know that sometimes you have to fight if you're to hold onto what you hold dear. But in making that decision, I believe we understate the costs of war; when we make the decision to fight, we make the decision to kill, and that means lives and families destroyed. Mine now falls into that category; the next time the question of war or peace comes up, if you knew me at least you can understand a bit more just what it is you're deciding to do, and whether or not those costs are worth it.

Semper Fi, Andy.

A Word for Hospitalman Daniel Noble

Hospitalman Daniel S. Noble, 21, of Whittier, Calif., died July 24, as a result of enemy action while conducting security operations in the Dilaya Province, Iraq.
Doc Noble was permanently assigned to 1^st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force Pacific, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Semper Fi

I Don't Believe I'll Post Here Anymore

UPDATE: What the heck do I know anyway. I'm not smart enough to maintain a blog on my own domain.


I've been posting over at The View From Where I Sit for the past several months. It seems to work pretty well for me... although I haven't exactly figured out how to upgrade to WordPress 2.2 yet.
I have a separate linked page for fallen Navy Corpsmen there, too.
Please swing by over there if you're looking for my recent posts on whatever, and thank you for stopping by. I appreciate you.

A Word for Hospitalman Lucas Emch

Hospitalman Lucas W.A. Emch, 21, of Kent, Ohio, died March 2, 2007, when an Improvised Explosive Device detonated in his vicinity while conducting combat operations in Al-Anbar Province, Iraq.

Doc Emch was a hospital corpsman assigned to 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Semper Fi

A Word for HM1 Gilbert Minjares, Jr.

Petty Officer 1st Class Gilbert Minjares Jr., 31, of El Paso, Texas, died Feb. 7 in the helicopter crash in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Doc Minjares was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 14, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Cherry Point, N.C. He was a married father of two children, one only a month old, and had been in Iraq only a week.

Semper Fi

A Word For HM3 Manuel A. Ruiz

Petty Officer Third Class Manuel A. Ruiz, 21, of Federalsburg, Md., died Feb. 7 in the helicopter crash in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Doc Ruiz was assigned to 2nd Medical Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Semper Fi

A Word for Hospitalman Matthew Conte

Hospitalman Matthew G. Conte, 22, of Mogadore, Ohio, died Feb. 1 while his unit was conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Doc Conte was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii serving under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force (forward).

Semper Fi

Best Wishes for 2007

Just a short note to wish the reader(s) and all who love them a healthy and happy 2007.
I hate trying to predict my behavior (I don't know what I'm going to have for lunch today) but I think now that I'm going to be engaged in the partisan political process more this year. I don't expect to impose that process upon you, but I may not be any better this year about posting here consistently.
For those of you who are so inclined, I will be sharing my partisan perspective here.
Please know that I appreciate each of you, and that I wish you every happiness.

A Few Words for HM2 Jaime Jaenke

I missed the announcement of the death of Jaime Jaenke when it was posted. I know that there are Seabees in Iraq, and I know that they, too, have Corpsmen assigned to them. We just hadn't lost one yet.

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jaime S. Jaenke, 29, of Bay City, Wis., died June 5 as a result of enemy action when her HMMWV was struck by an improvised explosive device in Al Anbar province, Iraq. She was assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25, Fort McCoy, Wis. She had actually moved back home to Iowa Falls last July before deploying.
I'm not very highly evolved. I come from a time before women were getting blown up in their jeeps in forward areas, and seeing the pictures of Petty Officer Jaenke's funeral with her 9 year old daughter following the coffin and receiving the flag... well, I'm not used to it.
Now I read that as a matter of policy her death benefits are to be held in trust for her daughter instead of being used for her rearing as Petty Officer Jaenke had intended. One reads this piece, and hopes that an admiral did not really tell the child's grandmother that in the meantime the child "may have to learn to do without."
It all comes with the territory. People get blown up or beat down or burned out, and some of them now are mothers. You just hope that They know what They're doing this time... against all evidence to the contrary.

A Word About Hospitalman Kyle Nolen

Hospitalman Kyle A. Nolen, 21, of Ennis, Texas, died Dec. 21 in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, as a result of enemy action.

Doc Nolen was assigned to India Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Regimental Combat Team 7, I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward, 29 Palms, Calif.

Semper Fi

Season's Greetings

Best wishes to each of you,

and to all who love you

this Holiday Season

and throughout 2007.

I Have A Thing About Heights

As I was reading this story about the Skywalk that the Hualapai want to build out over the Grand Canyon I was reminded of Tybee Island. You see that picture of me atop the Tybee Island lighthouse and you probably have no idea of what was involved in reaching out to that rail and moving away from the wall of the lighthouse.

A group of MSN 50s Chatters… it was Sheri and Mike’s idea actually… decided to meet out on Tybee Island to put faces to screen names, and there was this lighthouse which, naturally, begged to be climbed. Here’s the thing though… I have an issue with heights.
I get to the top of the stairs inside with Kathy and Linda, and Linda… bless her heart… steps off to the side saying that she’s afraid of heights and wants to stay inside. I’ve fallen into the habit of teasing Linda and there is no way I can say, “Me, too.” I have to talk her into stepping out onto the top.

So out we go… Kathy who is ex-Army and fearless, Linda who is scared to death but game, and me. If you can see the picture you’ll see that Kathy is enjoying herself, and that Linda looks… uncomfortable. Did you notice that my back is pressed to the wall? My scapulae were actually trying to cling to the wall. Then the guilt started. I had talked her out there so after she went back in I had to go around the top… and I had to have my picture taken out on the rail.

Linda, if you see this, it’s your fault. If you hadn’t gone out there I could have just poked my head out the door and come right back in. As for this Skywalk? Not in this lifetime. Not in a million years.

A Word About Hospitalman Christopher Anderson

Hospitalman Christopher A. Anderson, 24, of Longmont, Colo., died Dec. 4 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Doc Anderson was a Navy Corpsman assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Semper Fi