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An apology to a young woman killed in Iraq Posted on Sun, May 28, 2006 BY FRED GRIMM [EMAIL PROTECTED] The kid seems out of place among these old men. Lines of bronze markers memorialize men who survived the horrors of other wars and grew old before final dates were fixed to their Department of Defense-issued plaques. But Elizabeth Nicole Jacobson wasn't born until March 26, 1984. What's she doing here among so many grandfathers? Their grave markers have taken on the color of rust from years of sprinkling with cemetery well water. Hers has yet to arrive from the foundry. What's Elizabeth doing here with all these old veterans? Even her grave site seems out of place in that solemn section of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Pompano Beach. A SpongeBob snow globe has been placed on her plot. A fuzzy yellow Easter Bunny, sad and bedraggled after so many weeks in the weather, is propped up against a wreath of artificial flowers. A dozen dead yellow roses, real ones, have toppled out of an overturned plastic vase. There's a sand dollar painted with a University of Miami logo. Another with SpongeBob. Elizabeth must be the only hero here with such an affection for SpongeBob SquarePants. Ten little American flags, knocked askew by the wind, share the arrangement with a U.S. Air Force flag - - her flag. Airman 1st Class Johnson's war service brought her a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a plot in a hero's garden. On Sept. 28, outside the city of Safwan, she became the first Air Force woman killed in the Iraq war. It was, of course, a roadside bomb. That's the way most of our kids die in Iraq - - in military vehicles without proper armor, in sudden explosions along dusty roads. She had been in a security detail escorting a supply convoy into Camp Bucca, a U.S. military outpost. She was just one of 2,500 U.S. military deaths in Iraq. But, still, a young woman's death in war seems poignant. Her last few e-mails have been posted on the Internet. They exude youth. ‘’ I want to die happy and have a productive life. I hope nobody wishes I was never born. I hope my kids never tell me they wish I was like their friend's mom. I hope that I make money, but don't end up a workaholic or stuck up.’’ Her messages were never meant to be epitaphs. In January, The Cincinnati Inquirer published a feature story about an Ohio doctor, a reserve major with the 344th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq. It began: ‘’ David Grundy carries a tiny news clipping in his wallet, an obituary for Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Nicole Jacobson, who was 21 when she died in Iraq on Sept. 28. ‘’ Grundy saw her in the emergency room on the first day of his second deployment to the war zone. Jacobson already was dead, killed instantly when a roadside bomb hit the convoy she was escorting. ‘’ Something about that death, compared with all the others he witnessed, stuck with Grundy.'' Something about that death, and stories about her loss in The Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post, stuck with me. I stopped by Forest Lawn Thursday and brought a sprig of bougainvillea and a pink hibiscus from my own garden. The flowers were offered as an apology. I'm sorry. I didn't think, back when I and so many others too old to fight acquiesced to this war, when I didn't scream objections, that a schoolgirl from Riveria Beach would be killed there in the fall of 2005. And I didn't think kids would still be dying in the summer of 2006. I should have known better; that war is chaotic and ungovernable and that plans die along with soldiers. I should have paid less attention to politicians and more attention to historians. I didn't. Too few of us did. And long after that famous ‘’ Mission Accomplished ‘’ banner was hoisted over the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, a hero's garden finds a place for a kid who loved SpongeBob. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ~~ Suz-Q ~~ * COUNTDOWN CLOCK: http://tinyurl.com/cyvew * Presidential Quiz: http://tinyurl.com/nyrro * The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him. --- G.W.B. 9/13/01 * I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority. --- G.W.B. 3/13/02 * http://www.freedomtofascism.com * http://www.thankyoustephencolbert.org * http://www.itmfa.com * http://tinyurl.com/9f7xk * http://iraqforsale.org * http://tinyurl.com/hvyhw * Funny & Interactive!: http://tinyurl.com/cc3du * It's a secret!: http://tinyurl.com/obh35 * http://tinyurl.com/ewc2x * Mark Twain: Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. * http://tinyurl.com/jm96g * http://tinyurl.com/cfsrc --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [RobsList] A progressive group that is part of http://robwire.com You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RobsList" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Robslist -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
