American Forces Press Service | By Jim Garamone | May 28, 2006

BAGHDAD – There will be no backyard barbecues here to celebrate Memorial Day.


There won't be reunions with family or cold drinks while pitching horseshoes. A few will stay up late enough to catch live ball games from the United States or a part of the Indianapolis 500, but most service members will just want to sleep.

Memorial Day for most Americans at home means the beginning of the summer season and a three-day weekend. But for most Americans here, Memorial Day will be a regular day at war.

When troops here have time, what they do will be closer to the ideal of Memorial Day that the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic envisioned in 1868. Then, the idea was to remember the more than 600,000 Americans killed in the Civil War. In the intervening years, America remembered the dead from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and many other places.

To the combat battalions, brigades and divisions based here, Memorial Day means remembering friends they will never see again.

"It is not lost on me the sacrifices the men and women have made over here," said Army Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of Multinational Division Baghdad. "I know every one of them, and I've missed very few memorial services. It's a part of the family when we lose somebody."

The general spoke about calling the wife of a service member who had been killed by an improvised explosive device. "I wanted her to know we all felt her loss and ask if there was anything we could do," he said.

He said the Army has never been more motivated. In his 31 years of service, he said, he has never seen a more capable force than the one he commands now.

The general spoke of a cavalry staff sergeant who lost his right leg above the knee to an IED. He went to the combat support hospital to speak with the Soldier and pin a Purple Heart on him. "The Soldier said, 'Sir, I don't need a Purple Heart. I did this for my country.' I pinned the medal on him with tears in my eyes," Thurman said. "I got ready to leave, and I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He told me to keep going after the people who did this, and know 'that as soon as I get a new leg I'll be back over here with you.'

"That's the quality of Soldiers we've got," Thurman said. "And Americans should remember that."

I know some of you think I have always been an angel, but the truth is I was a normal kid! Hard to believe, I know. Here are some of the highlights from my sorted past in chronological order:

1. I may have protected my brother since he was smaller and closest to my age, but I also got him into trouble a few times. One hot summer day I thought it would be fun to hitch a ride on the back of our neighborhood ice cream truck. So at the last stop on our street, we jumped on and found something to hang on to --- and hang we did. That refrigerated truck took off and gave us a ride we have never forgotten. Then, stupid me, at the height of speed, I panicked and suggested we jump off!!! What a tumble we took --- off the truck, onto the gravelly street, and then thrown in the weeds beside the road. To make matters worse, home we went crying and bleeding, and then waited for Dad to join us at home for that extra dose of punishment.

2. Like I said, I was good at getting my brother into mischief, but this time I really deserved the results! I suppose I was paying him back for some prank when I got the bright idea of dumping a huge pile of black pepper on a sheet of lined notebook paper. I carefully carried it up to my brother and, inhaling deeply, blew it all over him! He began sneezing and crying and sputtering all over the place! And so did I!!! It must have been a riot watching that sniveling scene --- I have no idea how long it took us to get over it --- and then I sat down and waited for Dad to come home from work again.

3. Due to changes in school districts, I had to go to one of the roughest middle schools in the region. Somehow a group of mean girls latched on to me as the perfect squirt to harass. Little did they know, I was always a skinny scrapper. The gang leader was a heavyset bully with bleached hair and one day she followed me into the girl's room. After a few pushes and punches I decided enough was enough --- sometimes that's all it takes --- my husband says he's only seen me really mad twice and he was glad it wasn't at him! Anyway, when that girl started pulling my hair, I grabbed a fist load of her hair and I wouldn't let go! Round and round we went, until I ended up with an entire handful of her over-bleached locks! She had a premature bald spot in front!!! That was the end of her and her gang and I got peacefully left alone for the rest of the school year.

4. This one I'm not proud of, but I sure learned a lot from the experience. I had a crush on a girlfriend's boyfriend so when they had a fight and broke up, it was a perfect opportunity for me, right? Well, the guy did ask me out immediately and we paraded around holding hands at school. I was thinking, wow, how great this is --- only I didn't know I was being used to make the old girlfriend jealous. Within two weeks they were back together and I was the pariah. I lost the guy, my girlfriend, and my self-respect. And I decided he wasn't what I expected either so that's how things can change in the teen world in a matter of weeks. I was more mad at myself and I cried over how immature I was to fall for that trick.

5. By my senior year I was driving, without my first car yet, so I borrowed my mother's new white Grand Prix for a night out somewhere with friends. I got back later than curfew so I thought it would be so smart of me to turn off the headlights before I parked the car in the garage. No need in waking anybody, right? The only thing I didn't notice was the lawnmower parked in the middle of the garage!!! The noise must have awaken the entire neighborhood! It sounded like a train drove straight through the house. It took me quite a while to pay off those repairs with my measly summer job.

Live & learn --- that's the only way to do it, Streamers!!

This week my favorite media mag, Entertainment Weekly, is loaded with its Summer Music Review and one of the must-see summer tours it recommends is the Kelly Clarkson tour!

Kelly's "5.2-million-selling Breakaway --- now in its fifth(!) hit single --- contains some of the best pure pop songs of the decade so far. If you think you won't be screaming like a fanned-out tween when she launches into "Since U Been Gone," you're lying to yourself, buddy."

If you've been reading my stuff on Needs More Cowbell, you know I agree!

The following is my horoscope for today:

"Continue to be diligent and practical, and gather up stores for the future. Don't tell anybody but your partner what you have."

What is this weird stuff all about? I read all the other ones and they were all normal cheery suggestions --- not this paranoid crap!

It's like I'm supposed to know about some big conspiracy or disaster heading our way. Not so. I can only tell my husband about my hidden stash of necessities? Honestly, if I knew of some giant catastrophe on the horizon, I would tell all the Streamers asap! I would tell everyone --- running around like Chicken Little.

Of course, maybe my ranting is a smokescreen designed to keep you away from my panic room of bottles of water and flashlight batteries. Since Hurricane Hugo walked through here we are all advised to keep a disaster kit on hand, so I do. Half the goodies are probably out of date by now. Then there is my secret hoard of chocolate candy, but other than that, I'm not doing it! I'm not any more prepared than anyone else for misfortune.

This Sagittarius knows nothing!

This poem is not from my hand, but is a poem given to me during high school. I never found out who wrote it so it remains a mystery to me. I would love to know who this guy was because I haven't a clue. It always brings a smile to my face --- young love can be so cruel --- as I've been on both sides of the fence before. Plus he's a pretty good poet!

"My Darling Rita,

I guess now is the time to reveal what has been bothering me for some time now.

The first time I met you on the street
My heart, bless it, skipped a beat,
And each time I see you pass me by
The torch I carry alites so high.

But you my darling seem not aware
Either that or you do not care.
I don't know why you treat me this way
Please don't let me dream my life away.

Of all my dreams should I have come true,
My only wish would to be your love so true.

Your devoted Admirer"