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Ave Atque Vale 2018
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” — 1 Corinthians 15:55
As the unofficial obituarist of Ricochet I find fewer and fewer of the names associated with the death notices that flash across my news feed as having had any cultural significance in my own life, perhaps indicating that I am much closer to the end myself. Still, as 2018 comes to its demise, so comes the year-end parade of notable deaths and in memoriam pieces.
Political deaths, like political lives, are polarizing. Time weakens the affections for some, strengthens it for others and even changes from ambivalence to a peculiar longing or at least a previously unknown level of respect.
There are celebrity deaths that surprise, mainly because the person has long since faded from our memories as they had long ago slipped into retirement. For many character actors, their names mean little until paired with the face that makes us go “Oh! That guy! I always liked him!” For the most famous we rest in the knowledge that their talents are just a recording away from springing back into our lives – whether it’s watching a backroads car chase in a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, a jaunty greeting of “Hey, Bob!” a recitation of a Yiddish-American hopscotch chant (“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!”) or a driving call for R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
And then there are others, whose names and faces would never be known to us without the wounds of war. These are the names that won’t be accompanied by a maudlin song at the Oscars, these are the heroes of 2018:
Sgt. Jason Mitchell McClary
Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin
Sgt. 1st Class Eric Michael Emond
Capt. Andrew Patrick Ross
Sgt. Leandro Jasso
Major Brent Taylor
Sgt. James Slape
Staff Sgt. Diobanjo Sanagustin
Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Bolyard
Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Taylor Galvin
Sgt. 1st Class Reymund R. Transfiguracion
Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz
Air Force Staff Sgt. James T. Grotjan
Army Cpl. Joseph Maciel
Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew I. Holzemer
Army Staff Sgt. Alexander Conrad
Army Staff Sgt. Conrad Robinson
Army Spc. Gabriel Conde
Master Sgt. Jonathan J Dunbar
Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs
Staff Sgt. Carl Enis
Capt. Andreas O’Keeffe
Master Sgt. William Posch
Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso
Capt. Mark Weber
Capt. Christopher Zanetis
Sgt. 1st Class Maitland D. Wilson
Sgt. Christina M. Schoenecker
Spc. Javion S. Sullivan
Army Sgt. 1st Class Mihail Golin
Published in GeneralThrough many countries and over many seas
I have come, Brother, to these melancholy rites,
to show this final honour to the dead,
and speak (to what purpose?) to your silent ashes,
since now fate takes you, even you, from me.
Oh, Brother, ripped away from me so cruelly,
now at least take these last offerings,
blessed by the tradition of our parents, gifts to the dead.
Accept, by custom, what a brother’s tears drown,
and, for eternity, Brother, ‘Hail and Farewell’.
thanks EJ
Amen, and thank you, EJ!
Bless them and their families all.
Yes, thank you, EJ. God knows them. That’s all that matters.
I’m grateful for the service of these men and women. Hail and farewell, may G-d bless them, and comfort their loved ones.
We need to be aware of and remember them, too, AQ!