Last Letter Home
By Callimachus | Related entries in Military, The War On Terrorism, WarIn the midst of the media and anti-war celebration of the 2,000th dead American soldier in Iraq, the milblogger Greyhawk pauses to remember one who fell when the number was still in single digits, a casualty of the war’s first days, Marine Capt. Ryan A. Beaupre, of St. Anne, Illinois:
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 and is filed under Military, The War On Terrorism, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.In his tiny hometown of St. Anne, Ill., Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre was known for his unruly red hair and easy smile. He was the type to surrender his turn on the phone to other Marines with wives and children back home, family and friends said.
Beaupre, a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School and Illinois Wesleyan University, died March 21 in a helicopter crash near the Iraq border. He had joined the Marine Corps in 1995. The family has two other children, Kari Leisure, 28, and Christopher, 22.
And to them he left one last letter home:
Mom & Dad,
Well if you are reading this, then things didn’t go well for me over in Iraq. I’m sorry for the pain that I have caused you because of this. Please do not be upset with the Marine Corps, the military, the government, or the President. It was my choice to go into the military. The President and my higher commanders were just doing what they thought was best. Realize that I died doing something that I truly love, and for a purpose greater than myself. There is a paragraph that I read from time to time when I lose focus. “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” John Stewart Mill Now there is a little Marine Corps bravado in there, but I do believe in the basic premise. I want you to know that I could not have asked for better parents, or a better family. ….. I’ll never forget that one of my friends in elementary school said that if he could trade places with one person, he’d trade places with me because of my parents and home life. I truly feel that I’ve had a blessed life thanks to you two. Please give my love to Alyse & Ryan, Kari & Matt & the girls, Chris & Brandy, and everyone else in the family.
All my love,
Ryan
October 27th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
In the midst of the media and anti-war celebration…
Disgusting. You should know better.
October 27th, 2005 at 10:26 pm
I know what I see.
October 27th, 2005 at 10:45 pm
F’r instance:
http://www.zombietime.com/2000_iraq_deaths_party/
October 28th, 2005 at 6:42 am
OORAH! Good post, Cal!
October 28th, 2005 at 7:47 am
You’re seeing what you want. If those pictures are proof of anything, then by the same lights our troops are having a huge party in Iraq, too, when they’re not torturing people. Lots of smiles and naked Iraqis in the photos I saw.
Again, you should know better. Disgusting.
October 28th, 2005 at 3:02 pm
Actually, I didn’t “see” that protest, I just saw the pictures online. I did see the one in my town, however, and I saw it at close range. Because central figures in the Bush is a Terrorist No Blood for Oil “peace movement” in my town are my co-workers in the local newspaper newsdesk. It’s a story I’ve bored you all with too many times.
But they were celebrating this week. Oh, they managed to keep the solemn faces when they were standing on the courthouse steps with their candles and signs when the Channel 8 cameras were rolling. But it was a festive mood otherwise. One guy even got a date out of it. Part of the reason for their celebration was that the Wednesday night vigil, which usually draws a grand total of 7 or 8 “Women in Black” (male and female — that’s the group’s official name) this time was up to more than 250.
Never mind that some of the new faces explicitly said they were there in support of continuing the military work in Iraq and in support of the soldiers finishing their mission. It was a big number, and they were loving it. High fives all around.
Then I looked at the newspaper front pages online from that day. Some of them were artful packages; the kind of thing you spend days putting together. The merging of artwork, graphics, photos, and text was state-of-the-art. The rest of you won’t get to see it, but when the state newspaper publisher conventions roll around, and the prizes go out for best design, I’ll bet you hundreds of those layouts will be nominated, and rewarded. There’ll be backs slapped and drink rounds bought.
For most of us in the media, and most of those in the peace movement that I can see, the men and women in uniform are abstractions. The only two military veterans I ever worked with in this newsroom are gone (one’s retired, the other’s dead). Only one of my co-workers has a son who has seen active duty in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The number “2,000″ is more real to us, as a class, than the face and life of any individual soldier or Marines.
I do know better. Better than you, evidently. And I am disgusted.
October 29th, 2005 at 11:36 am
Hmmm. So it’s a celebration because some guy met a gal there, and folks were happy because of the large turnout. Even though they apparently have this vigil every week, this time it was to celebrate the 2000th American being killed.
Got it.