| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
02 Jun 2005 02:18:32 PM |
| Object: |
In wake of death, family reflects on what was, what could have been. |
From The Wisconsin State Journal, 6/2/05:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=42135&ntpid=2
In wake of death, family reflects on what was, what could have been
George Hesselberg Wisconsin State Journal
Mark Maida still makes them laugh.
That was what he brought to the party, to the family, even to the war.
He brought the fun.
Now he makes them cry, too.
"He always wanted to make sure we weren't hurting. He wanted to show
us that, 'Look, hey, I'm OK,'" said Betsy Jacobs, Mark's girlfriend.
"There were times he said it was hard for him, but he knew it was
harder for us because we didn't know what was going on."
Mark, 22, a 2001 graduate of Memorial High School, died last week in
Iraq.
He was a crew member on a Humvee on night patrol in Diyarah, when a
homemade bomb exploded, killing him and wounding two other crew
members.
He had just been promoted to sergeant with the U.S. Army's 2nd
Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
"He was counting the days, the hours. He had a lot of dreams," said
Betsy.
A friend, brother and son
Wednesday afternoon, led by parents Ray and Diane Maida, family and
friends continued to tap a well of memories of their friend, brother
and son.
They brought out the goofy photos Mark sent back from Iraq, wearing
bunny ears at Easter, cooking marshmallows over a tiny stove.
They remembered him "coming through Madison like a hurricane" on leave
from assignment in the Mojave Desert.
And they continued, quietly but firmly, not wanting to spoil the
message of their love for their son and what he was and could have
been, to question the support the government gives its troops at war
and the military policies that circulate soldiers beyond their tours
of duty.
The Maidas have a unique viewpoint on this family tragedy.
Mark was the youngest of four children, all Memorial graduates who
grew up in the Orchard Ridge neighborhood.
Ray, a retired Madison police detective, is a combat Vietnam War
veteran.
Diane is a nurse at UW Hospital.
Mark's brother Chris, 24, is a former member of the Madison-based Golf
Company, one of 172 U.S. Marine reservists who returned in April after
10 months in Iraq.
For a time, Chris, now on inactive reserve, was stationed 20 miles
from his brother in what Ray called the "triangle of death south of
Baghdad."
His fellow Marine and best friend, Robert Warns, of Waukesha, was
among the casualties from that unit.
A sister, Juliann Mutch, 31, and brother, Aaron, 28, recalled their
brother as "one of the little guys, always happy," who wrote his
nieces and nephews funny letters and who was himself just becoming old
enough to share the "old ones" family fun.
'Some meaning for others'
Diane answers for the family when she is asked if there is a message
in her son's death.
At the hospital, "when we see young people die, we are always looking
for an organ donor. Mark couldn't be an organ donor. I want his death
to have some meaning for others."
Their son had talked about the difficulty in maintaining vehicles.
"He said they didn't even have time to do maintenance on the
vehicles," said Ray.
"It is folly to say, 'We support our troops' when we're not giving
them what they need for equipment. Our cars here have yellow ribbons
of support for the troops, but there are not enough soldiers to fight
this war. At this point it doesn't seem like a goal that can be
accomplished," he said.
Mark's enlistment - three years spent in the States - was to have
ended Oct. 31, 2004, after his brother was sent to Iraq.
But due to the military's policy of allowing up to 90 days to order a
recall, he was not discharged.
The policy is unfair, said Juliann, who has written to politicians to
protest.
The feeling was echoed by her parents, who said it is evidence the
burden of the war is not being shared equally.
(Ray said on Wednesday the family received a letter, dated May 18,
from Mark, that included his own protests about the policy.)
Instead of returning to Madison, moving in with his girlfriend and
enrolling at MATC to study electrical engineering, he was kept in the
Army.
He went to Iraq with his mechanized infantry unit in January.
"For Mark, being there had nothing to do with ideology," said his
brother, Aaron.
"His concern was for watching out for his friends. He was not a
violent person."
His friends have been showing up at the Maida home south of the
Beltline off Highway 51.
They have been bringing lots of photographs, lots of pictures of Mark
smiling.
"With Mark, we didn't have to work that hard to have fun, not with him
around," said Ray.
He remembered last Thursday night, when he and his wife and son Chris
went out to eat and listen to an Irish band.
"It was about 10 p.m. and I went in to the bedroom to lay down. Diane
went to get a book to read.
"She came back in and said, 'There's a man in a uniform at the front
door and he has to talk to both of us.'"
The message was brief, the sorrow immediate and inescapable.
"I didn't want him to leave," Ray said.
"I kept asking him to please stay here. I kept touching him, I kept
grabbing at his coat."
_____________________________________________________
Harry
.
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| User: "The Pretzel" |
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| Title: Re: In wake of death, family reflects on what was, what could have been. Thank you, George W. Bush. |
02 Jun 2005 02:27:52 PM |
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*He remembered last Thursday night, when he and his wife and son Chris
went out to eat and listen to an Irish band.
"It was about 10 p.m. and I went in to the bedroom to lay down. Diane
went to get a book to read.
"She came back in and said, 'There's a man in a uniform at the front
door and he has to talk to both of us.'"
The message was brief, the sorrow immediate and inescapable.
"I didn't want him to leave," Ray said.
"I kept asking him to please stay here. I kept touching him, I kept
grabbing at his coat."*
Thank you, George W. Bush.
.
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| User: "The Pretzel" |
|
| Title: In wake of death, family reflects on what was, what could have been. |
02 Jun 2005 02:28:30 PM |
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From The Wisconsin State Journal, 6/2/05:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=42135&ntpid=2
In wake of death, family reflects on what was, what could have been
George Hesselberg Wisconsin State Journal
Mark Maida still makes them laugh.
That was what he brought to the party, to the family, even to the war.
He brought the fun.
Now he makes them cry, too.
"He always wanted to make sure we weren't hurting. He wanted to show
us that, 'Look, hey, I'm OK,'" said Betsy Jacobs, Mark's girlfriend.
"There were times he said it was hard for him, but he knew it was
harder for us because we didn't know what was going on."
Mark, 22, a 2001 graduate of Memorial High School, died last week in
Iraq.
He was a crew member on a Humvee on night patrol in Diyarah, when a
homemade bomb exploded, killing him and wounding two other crew
members.
He had just been promoted to sergeant with the U.S. Army's 2nd
Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
"He was counting the days, the hours. He had a lot of dreams," said
Betsy.
A friend, brother and son
Wednesday afternoon, led by parents Ray and Diane Maida, family and
friends continued to tap a well of memories of their friend, brother
and son.
They brought out the goofy photos Mark sent back from Iraq, wearing
bunny ears at Easter, cooking marshmallows over a tiny stove.
They remembered him "coming through Madison like a hurricane" on leave
from assignment in the Mojave Desert.
And they continued, quietly but firmly, not wanting to spoil the
message of their love for their son and what he was and could have
been, to question the support the government gives its troops at war
and the military policies that circulate soldiers beyond their tours
of duty.
The Maidas have a unique viewpoint on this family tragedy.
Mark was the youngest of four children, all Memorial graduates who
grew up in the Orchard Ridge neighborhood.
Ray, a retired Madison police detective, is a combat Vietnam War
veteran.
Diane is a nurse at UW Hospital.
Mark's brother Chris, 24, is a former member of the Madison-based Golf
Company, one of 172 U.S. Marine reservists who returned in April after
10 months in Iraq.
For a time, Chris, now on inactive reserve, was stationed 20 miles
from his brother in what Ray called the "triangle of death south of
Baghdad."
His fellow Marine and best friend, Robert Warns, of Waukesha, was
among the casualties from that unit.
A sister, Juliann Mutch, 31, and brother, Aaron, 28, recalled their
brother as "one of the little guys, always happy," who wrote his
nieces and nephews funny letters and who was himself just becoming old
enough to share the "old ones" family fun.
'Some meaning for others'
Diane answers for the family when she is asked if there is a message
in her son's death.
At the hospital, "when we see young people die, we are always looking
for an organ donor. Mark couldn't be an organ donor. I want his death
to have some meaning for others."
Their son had talked about the difficulty in maintaining vehicles.
"He said they didn't even have time to do maintenance on the
vehicles," said Ray.
"It is folly to say, 'We support our troops' when we're not giving
them what they need for equipment. Our cars here have yellow ribbons
of support for the troops, but there are not enough soldiers to fight
this war. At this point it doesn't seem like a goal that can be
accomplished," he said.
Mark's enlistment - three years spent in the States - was to have
ended Oct. 31, 2004, after his brother was sent to Iraq.
But due to the military's policy of allowing up to 90 days to order a
recall, he was not discharged.
The policy is unfair, said Juliann, who has written to politicians to
protest.
The feeling was echoed by her parents, who said it is evidence the
burden of the war is not being shared equally.
(Ray said on Wednesday the family received a letter, dated May 18,
from Mark, that included his own protests about the policy.)
Instead of returning to Madison, moving in with his girlfriend and
enrolling at MATC to study electrical engineering, he was kept in the
Army.
He went to Iraq with his mechanized infantry unit in January.
"For Mark, being there had nothing to do with ideology," said his
brother, Aaron.
"His concern was for watching out for his friends. He was not a
violent person."
His friends have been showing up at the Maida home south of the
Beltline off Highway 51.
They have been bringing lots of photographs, lots of pictures of Mark
smiling.
"With Mark, we didn't have to work that hard to have fun, not with him
around," said Ray.
He remembered last Thursday night, when he and his wife and son Chris
went out to eat and listen to an Irish band.
"It was about 10 p.m. and I went in to the bedroom to lay down. Diane
went to get a book to read.
"She came back in and said, 'There's a man in a uniform at the front
door and he has to talk to both of us.'"
The message was brief, the sorrow immediate and inescapable.
"I didn't want him to leave," Ray said.
"I kept asking him to please stay here. I kept touching him, I kept
grabbing at his coat."
_____________________________________________________
Harry
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