Week of Eagles

Tim "Pappy" Dunavin, Susan Alexander, Greg "Boot" Alexander, Rob "Rudie" Hoskins, Mike "Harry" Hartman

We displayed our gear in and under a C-47 at the Pratt Museum located on the grounds of Ft. Campbell from Wednesday thru Friday, then moved the display to the Air show on Saturday. It was quite a week... Their were about 45 101st Airborne Reenactors present with some great displays of gear. Numerous WWII vehicles were brought by them. Jeeps, Trailers, a WC-51 Weapons Carrier, a CCKW Deuce and a half that was an actual Airborne vehicle with a split frame (very rare). A Command Tent display (fully equipped), a Pyramid tent completely set up with cots, foot lockers loaded with personal items. Bazookas, mortars, and a full assortment of weapons. Thompson's, Garands, Carbines, M-1911-A1's, Grenades, bazookas. You name these guys had it.

What an honor it was to be among so many fine, high quality military personnel. The quality of these young men and women cannot be overstated. I was very impressed. The manner and respect with which every single one of these soldiers treated us was extremely refreshing to me, a battered secondary school teacher. We had the opportunity to eat chow with them in the 502nd Mess. In typical Army fashion, the Mess Hall was to open at 1130 hours and they did not open the doors until 1200 which resulted in the old "Hurry up and Wait" which is about the only thing that resembled the Army of which I was a member from 1971 thru 1977. The Mess was more like a very nice buffet-style restaurant. Neon signs, chrome chairs, tables laminated with the 101st Airborne logo. Many choices of food were available, BBQ chicken, hamburgers, fries, macaroni salad, dinner rolls, salad, and much more. This is the first I have been in an Army Mess Hall since 1977. At that time it was in a Company Mess Hall that was built in 1938 and operated as though it was still in the WWII era. Metal trays, food slopped on your tray by a disgruntled K.P. The current operation was First Class all the way.

Standing in line for chow gave us the opportunity to talk with a number of these young soldiers. Most had recently returned from Iraq. I started asking questions about how the people in Iraq reacted to them while they were there. Believe me, the media is doing a gross injustice to our men and women in uniform with their sensationalism and tendencies to only report negative news. The overall opinion was that the Iraqi people in general are much like our society. Most people only want peace and are grateful that we have liberated them from a tyrant's rule. The children for the most part love our G.I.'s... Chocolate is still handed out as in WWII and that makes a lot of friends with the youngsters. They follow our G.I.'s around in groups, laughing, waving, giving the thumbs up as our troops pass. There are areas where they are not as well received and these are generally the insurgent "hotspots"... Most soldiers said it was obvious the children in these areas were only mimicking their parents attitudes. To quote Staff Sgt. Bickle... "A four year old just doesn't make a sign of slitting his neck and giving you a thumbs down on his own, he had to learn that from his parents." To paraphrase what Sgt. Bickle stated further; When these same children were encountered on a different day or when their parents were not around, they were friendly and were all smiles and giving the thumbs up. One problem with the Iraqi people is that they have never experienced freedom. They really cannot appreciate freedom yet. They have nothing to reflect on that is anywhere close to that experience. Things are better in Iraq than they were before the war. There is more electricity, more running water, sewage treatment and now a growing retail trade. I wish the media would show us the full story and stop politicizing everything...

What an honor to meet the 101st WWII Veterans... The number in attendance was few. I was able to engage in detailed conversation with only four during the entire week. Their humility as always stood in the forefront of their conversations. The attitude that is such a common thread throughout their generation was displayed by all... "Well we weren't heroes, we had a job to do and we did it." God how I love those guys.

The absolute highlight of the week to me happened while Susan and I were standing in the shade of a huge oak tree next to the Pratt Museum. A WWII Vet was getting into his disability equipped van with the help of his great granddaughter (who was about 13 and was watching over him lovingly, like a mother hen.) He walked with two canes and his feet shuffled as he walked. When he saw Susan and I, he stopped and put both canes in his left hand, he came to attention and gave a long, yet snappy salute... He said "Thank you for doing all of this, keeping these memories alive." It brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat. I replied as best as I could with the first thing that came to my mind... "Well, we are Eternally Grateful to you for what you did."