Agile Life

I was stuck up in DC this weekend and was working a bit on Saturday when I decided to take a break and watch a movie. I started down what is a slippery slope for me by watching Taking Chance, a movie about an Marine Officer who volunteers to take a young Marine’s body back to his family. It has been a few years since I have looked at the faces of the fallen so after the movie I decided to look at all of the Marines killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan (see what I mean by “slippery slope”?).  I have a process I follow where, over a period of several hours,  I look at every picture. Of course it took me longer this time than a few years ago because many more have been killed in action.  After that I had what I describe as an overwhelming sense of sadness at the loss of my brothers that I know comes from Semper Fi being part of my soul.  If you are a Marine, you know what I mean.  Also, I’m not sure when it happens, but you hit an age where young people just look, well, young.  Many of our dead heroes were born after I was already out of high school.

Being a person of action and already slipping down the slope, an idea occurred to me.  Gunnery Sergeant Terry Ball and I served as Lance Corporals and Corporals together back in the early 1990’s.  Gunny Ball is on the list. He died from wounds received in action in Iraq.  He was an amazing Marine who became even more amazing, I found out later, as his career developed. He was a Drill Instructor and Senior Drill Instructor at Paris Island!  I really admired him when we served together and his death was a huge loss to the US Marine Corps and our nation. I decided that I would visit his grave.

I got up early this (Sunday) morning and took the metro from Vienna to Brookland/Catholic University.  I attended Mass at the Basilica and prayed for Gunny Ball and his family (he left behind a wife and three children). Then I went to the gift shop and bought two identical coins with a cross inscribed on one side and a prayer on the other. I took the metro to Arlington National Cemetery, where Gunny Ball is buried. I located his grave, placed one coin on top of his stone, and kept one as a reminder to me of the ultimate sacrifice he made.

From the Galluscio family to the family of  Gunnery Sergeant Terry Ball and all of our fallen heroes, “Please know that we are grateful for your sacrifice.”

Semper Fi, Gunny. Godspeed.