"You are not forgotten" - those are the words on the POW/MIA flag. Today as we honor two fallen servicemen whose deaths were recently announced by the Department of Defense - one who died on September 25 of this year, Luke Milam of Littleton, Colorado, and one who died in April of 1942, James Blose of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania - it's clear that, for all who give their lives in service to their country, those words are more than just a slogan.
We are blessed to have a wealth of information about these two remarkable men. Please join me below the fold for a tribute to them.
(POW/MIA flag image is in the public domain.)
I have my own bittersweet memory of a soldier who is still missing in action in Vietnam. When I was in second grade, I got a Magic 8-Ball for my birthday, and one afternoon I decided to set up a fortune-telling stand in my yard by the street. With a towel wrapped around my head in what I imagined to be swami-style, I waited for what seemed like hours, without a single person stopping to give me 10 cents to tell their fortune. But then Corky Grosse, an eighth-grader from my school, walked by. Very friendly and sweet, he stopped and wanted an answer to a question about his girlfriend - and he gave me a whole quarter. Back in the fifties, that was a substantial contribution. I can still remember how utterly thrilled I was at his generosity and his big, warm grin. And then, since he didn't like the answer he'd gotten, he asked another question . . . for another quarter. Needless to say, I was utterly charmed and instantly developed a big crush on my hero. For some reason, this has remained one of my most vivid memories from my childhood.
So, years later, when I heard that Corky was missing in action in Vietnam, I was heartbroken, yet I remained hopeful that he was still alive. I really couldn't understand how someone could go "missing in action," and since he was older than me and I didn't know his family or friends, I didn't know any of the details of his disappearance. I only knew his nickname (and I had misremembered how his last name was spelled), so I didn't find him online when I went looking online several years ago. But recently I found him: Christopher A. Grosse, of Harlingen, Texas, 23 years old on the date he was lost. From a tribute site to POW/MIAs:
On March 28, 1968, PFC Grosse was a rifleman assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division on a search and destroy mission in Thua Thien Province, Republic of Vietnam. While his platoon was moving in file down a trail, with Grosse as the second man, the platoon was ambushed by an enemy force. The point man, PFC Johnson, who was 8-9 meters ahead of Grosse, observed him fall, wounded, with blood on his head and neck. Due to the situation, Johnson did not have time to double back to see if PFC Grosse was alive. Johnson said, however, that Grosse lay completely still and appeared to be dead.
The intense enemy fire forced the patrol to withdraw from the area without PFC Grosse. Efforts to reach him later that day were unsuccessful, due to hostile fire in the area. A search of the area the next day failed to locate Grosse.
It was not uncommon for the Viet Cong to bury American casualties, and in doing so bury them in places so hidden that they could not be found. Since Grosse was wounded, it is possible that this occurred. However, since his death is not certain, it is also quite reasonable to expect that he could have been captured as his platoon withdrew.
Since the war ended, thousands of reports of Americans still alive in the hands of the governments of Southeast Asia have been received, convincing many authorities that hundreds of men are still captive, waiting for the country they proudly served to bring them home. One of them could be PFC Grosse.
Corky is also remembered on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and as yet another testament to the lasting memories of the fallen, a woman who has had his "hero bracelet" all these years still keeps him in her prayers:
I am honored to have had this bracelet for almost 40 years now (since High School) and in my heart I have referred to it as my "Band of Gold" and it has always been one of my most treasured possessions. Your loved one will not be forgotten and will be in my memory as a wonderful soldier who served his country in honor. I purchased this bracelet when my boyfriend was serving in Viet Nam as I cared very deeply for all of our troops serving. My boyfriend did come home and we have been married for 38 years. Neither one of us has ever taken our lives for granted, knowing and understanding what it takes to have the freedoms we have because of those serving. As I recently read SGT. CHRISTOPHER GROSSE JR.'s bio, he still is and always will be in our prayers that he will come home someday.
Corky, wherever you are, my friend, you're still alive in our hearts... just as Luke Milam and James Blose will live on in the hearts of those who knew them and even some who didn't.
Charles Luke Milam
On September 26, the Department of Defense announced the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom:
Petty Officer Second Class Charles Luke Milam, 26, of Littleton, Colo., died September 25, while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Milam was a hospital corpsman assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
A graduate of Columbine High School, Charles Luke Milam - known as Luke to his family and friends - may have been influenced by the tragic events at that school in 1999, the year he graduated. From Rocky Mountain News:
"He wasn't shot or wounded or shot at," his brother, Keith, said..., "but absolutely, it was the defining moment of his life." Two months after the Columbine killings, Milam, 26, enlisted in the Navy, following in the footsteps of his brother and two grandfathers. ... "It wasn't something Luke ever talked about, but the fact he chose to become a hospital corpsman may have had something to do with (Columbine)."
Born in Albuquerque, Milam moved to Colorado with his family in 1992. His parents moved to Washington in 2001, but Milam still considered Colorado home. At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Milam enjoyed backpacking, mountain biking, hiking, canoeing, scuba diving, and skydiving. As his sister, Jaeme Milam of Denver, put it, "he loved anything outdoors."
Milam had planned to make the navy his career. The Denver Channel described his training in the military:
Milam enlisted June 14, 1999, attended boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill., and later graduated from the Naval Hospital Corps School December 1999, followed by a long list of school and training from Field Medical Service School Camp in Lejeune North Caroline, to Navy Dives Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Fla., and trained at John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center in North Carolina as a student.
According to his brother:
"He did OK in high school, but after he joined the military he was a star," ... dedicating himself to helping people with injuries and death in combat situations. "Luke was responsible for the health and well-being of the men in his platoon. ... He basically served as their doc - from everyday aches and pains to severe combat trauma."
Luke was on his fourth tour of duty, in Afghanistan, after three tours in Iraq, when he and his fellow coalition forces were apparently hit by a rocket attack near the town of Musa Qula. Milam was killed in what his brother Keith thinks was an ambush in this opium-growing area, where the Taliban has fiercely engaged British and U.S. troops.
This highly decorated sailor had received the Purple Heart for a wound suffered in Iraq, two Combat Action ribbons, two Good Conduct medals, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and two Sea Service Deployment ribbons. His family was especially proud when he was named Special Operations Command Operator of the Year.
Some of his compatriots remembered him on SOCNET, the SpecialOperations.com Bulletin Board:
I had the honor of serving with Luke in 04' in Fallujah. He was a young hardcharging SARC Corpsmen. He knew his medicine well and his Recon skills just the same. He always wanted to be the best and always be at the tip of the spear. He will be missed!
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I watched him jump the fattest ruck I've ever seen into DZ Falcon after 2nd Recons' Rotation to Ft. Polk. He always pushed himself as hard as possible. Great Doc, great Operator, and all around great dude.
#
I got him in the Recon pipeline as an E2 and bent his orders so he could stay in Panama City with his busted leg (broken during ARC). Milam was always humble, professional and a credit to the Navy and his family. I know his Marines will compare every HM they ever meet to him.
Among those who remember him is one of his teachers, Paula Reed:
In ACE [Alternative Cooperative Education], Luke was a great student. One of the best. These are the kids you know will succeed out in "the real world" because they have what it takes as long as they find something they love. ... I have come to understand that Luke found something he loved: being a hospital corpsman in the Navy, caring for injured Marines....
My ninth-graders and I have just finished Antigone, an ancient play in which a proud ruler's hubris prevents him from listening to the will of the people in his kingdom or the counsel of wise men and seers, which leads to his downfall. The play also asserts that to lie unburied and unwept when the battle is done is the cruelest fate for a warrior. I understand why Luke was sent to Afghanistan better than I understand why he was sent to Iraq, and he was a healer more than a warrior, but one thing is sure: He will be buried with full honors, wept for by his family, friends, comrades-in-arms, and at least one former teacher.
In addition to his brother Keith and his sister, Luke Milam is survived by his parents, Michael and Rita Milam of Seattle, and his brother Andrew of Denver. The Patriot Guard has been invited to attend the services in Littleton on October 4.
Photos of Luke Milam are here.
May he rest in peace.
James W. Blose
On September 27, the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, had been identified and would be returned to his family for burial with full military honors:
He is 1st Lt. James W. Blose, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Sharpsville, Pa. He will be buried Sept. 29 in Hermitage, Pa.
Representatives from the Army met with Blose's next-of-kin in her hometown to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
On April 22, 1942, Blose and another pilot, 2nd Lt. William S. Shaw, departed Nausori, Airdrome, Viti Levu Island, Fiji, on an airborne alert mission. Soon after takeoff, bad weather forced the pilots to fly below the level of several mountaintops in the area and land their P-39D Airacobras at Nandi Airdrome. Shaw successfully landed his plane, but Blose was not seen or heard from again. Initial ground searches in the thick jungles and rugged terrain were unsuccessful.
In late 2004, a Fiji citizen reported to a U.S. official in Fiji that he located possible aircraft wreckage on Viti Levu Island. The official visited the site and saw the wreckage bearing a data plate that correlated to Blose's plane. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) investigated the crash site in early 2005 and collected additional data plate information.
In 2006, a JPAC team excavated the site and recovered human remains and other items including a pilot's microphone electrical plug with Blose's initials on it.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of Blose's remains.
Blose's next of kin is his niece, Susan Blose Crowley of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, who was born fourteen years after his disappearance. His parents, Edison and Twilia, died in 1972, and his only sibling, Crowley's father, died in 1992, but Crowley preserved her uncle's letters and photos, as well as cherished family memories.
From the time he was a child, Blose wanted to fly. After graduating from Sharpsville High School and studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941. In a letter to his father, he wrote of his decision to join the Army: "I want you to explain to mother that this means almost everything to me."
Something else that meant a great deal to the young Blose was his girlfriend, Catherine Zahn of San Antonio. He even personalized the tail of his plane with the name "Kitty" and a painting of a cat in honor of his sweetheart. Blose's family kept in contact with Zahn after he disappeared, but eventually lost touch. Today Blose's niece continues her search for Zahn: "I just want to tell her. I want to talk to her, I want to tell her he's back."
James Blose was just 23 years old when his plane went down. The Tribune-Review reports:
Blose's parents never gave up hope that their son would be found, Crowley said. They refused to erect a memorial, and Edison Blose spent years sending letters to Fiji, Washington - anywhere he could think of - in search of answers.
Since the announcement of his identification, many of Blose's friends and classmates have contacted his niece to express their thrill and relief that he will finally be laid to rest. Her description of greeting his coffin at the Pittsburgh airport to escort it home is especially touching:
"The whole drive down, I thought about all the people who wanted to see this," Crowley said. "They were devastated by his loss. There is no pain worse than losing a child. I know how my grandmother felt all those years. I know how my grandfather and my dad felt all those years."
Crowley watched silently as military officials saluted the coffin and loaded it into a waiting hearse. "It was overwhelming," she said. "It was like my son was finally home and is finally going to be laid to rest. He's back. He's really back. It was very real at that point."
The Patriot Guard was granted permission to attend the services for James Blose, which were held on September 29.
In addition to the links above, a very detailed story with numerous photos and excerpts from Blose's letters, in addition to details about the extensive process of recovering and identifying his remains, is at the Sharon Herald.
May he rest in peace.
As of this writing, Iraq Coalition Casualties reports that 3,801 American soldiers, sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardsmen have been confirmed killed in action and 4 others are missing or captured in Iraq; 446 have died in Afghanistan; and 6 additional deaths are pending notification of the families. The DoD news releases can be found here. The death toll among Iraqis is unknown, but is at least in the tens of thousands.
You can help our military men and women! Please consider sponsoring a deployed service member at TroopCarePackage.com. It doesn’t take much time or money. Just send letters or care packages to your soldier, sailor, Airman, or Marine. Remember, "mail is gold" for a deployed soldier. A few minutes of your time and one airmail stamp can make a real difference in a military person's life. anysoldier.com, Operation Helmet, and Fisher House are also wonderful organizations that provide comfort and care to deployed American troops. Finally, if you would like to assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available here. Animal companions can provide such solace and comfort.
About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.
Click here to see the entire series, which was begun by i dunno and which is now maintained by monkeybiz, Sandy on Signal, silvercedes, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, MsWings, twilight falling, labwitchy, moneysmith, joyful, roses, and sistwo.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and families of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.
UPDATED 10/2/07 to add the last two blockquotes about IGTNT.