Another Dose.

last week pennsylvania lost another of her sons.

1LT Travis Manion, USMC, is an alumnus of mine, having graduated from usna in 2004; we likely passed one another at some point in the many halls of bancroft. Travis was also a member of the transition teams that i train, though he and i never met as he came through the phoenix academy prior to my assignment.

while i did not personally know Travis, that does not make placing his face on the wall of our fallen an impersonal task... even if we weren't tied by our origins, or our academy, we'd still be linked by the simple fact that we were out here together, having chosen to stand for something: hope.

out here we're all brothers and sisters, and each loss is felt accordingly, but i perceive that the many permutations of hope are what reinforce our resolve more than anything: hope for a real future for this country, and those of her people that deserve it; hope that the world may be crafted into a better place, whether willingly or no, and despite the efforts of politicians (and i include in this condemnatory dependent clause both those of the civilian and military persuasion); hope that we will all return safely home to sweethearts, children, wives, families, and friends that love us, and whom we ourselves love; hope that the next pint we share won't be lifted in memory of an absent shipmate.

this week i also found out that something i take care of--something i physically put my hands on--saved a life... because of that, a soldier is still headed back home in about three weeks, rather than finishing his tour early the bad way.

that's why i'm here, and it gives me hope.

you will find Travis' name enshrined here, in Memorial Hall,
above Bancroft Hall's Rotunda, and beneath a replica
of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's battle flag from the USS Niagara
(it was the real thing while Travis and i were there).
the flag bears Captain James Lawrence's final command
aboard the USS Chesapeake in 1813.