BEIRUT VETERANS OF AMERICA

Commentary:

We Are the Witnesses By Randy Gaddo Nov. 30, 2009

My wife asks me from time to time why, after 18 years, I continue laboring to put together the Root Scoop II four or more times a year. Why don’t you turn it over to someone else, she asks. It’s a good question, one that I’ve asked myself on more than one early morning writing and editing session.

I finally got my answer from the movie “Taking Chance,” an illuminating movie based on a true story about a Marine lieutenant colonel who escorts home the body of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, killed in action in Iraq.
On the evening before the funeral, Chance’s hometown VFW sponsors a get-together at their post and the colonel, Mike Strobl, is invited. As the evening progresses, everyone shares stories about Chance, from childhood friends to the Marine sergeant who saw him die. From all accounts, it is clear that the town has lost a trusted friend, the nation has lost a fine American and the Corps has lost a great Marine.
Finally, only Strobl and the sergeant remain at the table, the sergeant telling intimate details of Chance’s last moments. The sergeant is feeling remorse and survivor’s guilt – why was he still here when Chance was not?

The colonel is struggling with similar feelings. A Desert Storm veteran, he had chosen to take a stateside job rather than re-deploy to Iraq when he had the chance, a decision that haunted him. It was in fact why he had volunteered to escort Chance home. As the sergeant was driving away from the VFW post, the colonel and a grizzled Korean-war veteran enlisted Marine were watching him leave. The colonel confides in the veteran, telling him he should have been in Iraq as well.
“You stop right there sir!” said the veteran emphatically. “You did what you were intended to do. You brought Chance home. You are now his witness. When all is said and done, all we have is our stories, but without a witness there are no stories. When there are no stories, we cease to exist.”
My wife got it. She turned to me and with tears said, “I’ll never question you doing the Root Scoop again.”
That was it! That’s why I do it. In fact, that is why the BVA itself exists. We are all witnesses.
In 1992 when we started the BVA it was with the motto, “The First Duty Is To Remember.” We started the Root Scoop II (RSII) as an extension of the Root Scoop newsletter we did on shore in Beirut to keep the troops informed. Over the years the RSII became a thread that continued to sustain the BVA as a viable entity even in years when there was minimal direct and focused involvement from members.
The RSII became the conveyor of the stories. It was the place to document details about what happened in Beirut between 1982 and 1984 and what what was happening now. I believe that there were times when people were distracted by life or were just tired and the RSII was the only thread that kept them connected to the BVA.

Over the years the RSII has conveyed stories for and about veterans and families. At first it was more about veterans but soon we associated closely with the Beirut Connection, a family group that had banded together soon after the bombing. Now it is clear that without the families, the stories could soon cease. Original family members and us veterans won’t last forever, so it will be up to 2nd and 3rd generation veterans and family to pick up the torch.

I put a great deal of passion into the RSII. It is passion born of experience. I was there so I have a personal investment, I have a frame of reference. I have long understood at some subliminal level why the RSII is important. Now I can define it. I can identify it. It is the conveyor of the stories of our KIA’s. It is the medium by which we continue to tell the story of this important part of American history, so closely linked to today’s War on Terror. As long as this medium exists, the stories exist and our heroes continue to serve.
I can now also better define the importance of the BVA itself. There are so many lessons to be learned from our experience in Beirut – personal lessons, political lessons, military lessons – that can continue to be taught as long as there is an organization like the BVA to keep the lessons alive.
Over the years there have been diversions from our main purpose. Personalities have gotten in the way, egos have tried to divert us, people with agendas other than the main mission have tried to intervene. But what BVA members have to remember and keep at the top of their priority list is that we exist for one reason and one reason only: because Our First Duty Is To Remember. Everything else is unimportant, trivial, wasted energy.

I can tell you that as long as I am able I will continue to plug away at this RSII, because through it the stories of our past heroes of Beirut continue to be told. Semper Fi...Randy Gaddo

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