I've been reading 'Biggest Brother : The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers'. I'm simply in awe of such men. If you loved the series on HBO, you'll love this book. And if you love this book (and more specifically Dick Winters), then you've got to love LTC Erik Kurilla.
As regular readers know, he recently became a casualty and was shipped home.
I'm asking all of you to take the time to read Michael Yon's Gates of Fire and be riveted as he describes the action in which Kurilla was shot, and take special note of the accompanying photos. If you're anything like me, you'll want to know more about Kurilla, about what makes him tick. So go read all of Yon's latest post and then head over to Blackfive who provides a couple of links to memorials given by Kurilla honoring men who served with him and who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Again, it's riveting reading.
Kurilla, like Winters, is bonafide man.
Where do we get such?
We have had such men for a long time. They fought for freedom. In 1966, I volunteered for the draft. While I didn't get to Vietnam, I willingly served. This is the attitude we must insure is retained. In order to have something worth living for, you must be willing to die. One thing refugees and others coming to America bring is an appreciation of what we have, something too many take for granted.
With LTC Kurilla's return to America, we should encourage he be seen as the noblest and best we have. Knowledgeable, honest, brave, caring. Deserving the Congressional Medal of Honor. Not just by his heroic actions in the firefight, but by his daily actions in the community.
Posted by: Presbypoet | Friday, August 26, 2005 at 10:07 PM
Presbypoet, you didn't volunteer for the draft, you volunteered (the same as I did in '64). The draft was involuntary by definition.
Posted by: Mike H. | Sunday, August 28, 2005 at 04:26 PM