Tom's last journey
by Doug Pritchard
Our brother Tom has begun his final journey home.
He left Anaconda military base at Balat, Iraq, at dawn on Mar. 13 (9 p.m.
EST, Mar. 12), and is expected to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in
Delaware at 1 a.m. EST, Mar. 14.
CPT Toronto was originally informed by Canadian authorities at 1:30 p.m.
EST Mar. 10, that a body had been found in Baghdad which was likely that
of Tom Fox. An hour later, when the CPT Iraq team asked officials at the
U.S. Embassy in Baghdad if they could come to identify the body, they were
told that it had already left on a military transport for Dover. Officials
had repeatedly assured the team over the previous three months that CPT
would be able to accompany our colleagues home "if at all possible." They
now said that their only focus was getting the body back to the USA as
soon as possible. At 8 p.m. EST, the U.S. State Department confirmed the
identity as Tom Fox based on fingerprints.
The next day, Mar. 11, at 10 a.m. EST, CPT Iraq learned that Tom's body
was still at the Anaconda base at Balat. The U.S. Embassy arranged for
Beth Pyles, a member of the CPT Iraq team, to travel to Anaconda, and she
was able to keep vigil with Tom for the next 36 hours until his departure.
Meanwhile, CPT members Rich Meyer and Anne Montgomery travelled to Dover,
and have been in the vicinity since 5 p.m. Mar. 11, keeping vigil and
awaiting Tom's arrival.
Pyles was present on the tarmac at Anaconda as Tom's coffin was loaded
onto the plane for Dover. She reported that his coffin was draped in a
U.S. flag. This is unusual for a civilian, but Tom may not have been
uncomfortable with this since he had always called his nation to live out
the high ideals which it professed. Iraqi detainees who die in U.S custody
are also transported to Dover for autopsies and forensics. On this plane,
right beside Tom's coffin, was the coffin of an Iraqi detainee. So Tom
accompanied an Iraqi detainee in death, just as he had done so often in
life.
At Tom's departure, Pyles read out from the gospel of John, "The light
shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it" (1:5). In
honour of Tom's Iraqi companion, she spoke the words called out repeatedly
from the mosques of Baghdad during the Shock and Awe bombing campaign in
March 2003, "allah akhbar" (God is greater). She concluded the sending
with words from the Jewish scriptures, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has
taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).
Dawn broke. The contingent of Puerto Rican soldiers nearby saluted. The
plane taxied away. Venus, the morning star, shone brightly overhead as the
night faded away. Godspeed you, Tom, on your final journey home to your
family and friends.
Doug Pritchard is a co-director of Christian Peacemaker Teams.
--
Russ T. Nale
http://grace.break.at
God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
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