Memorial Day, 2008

If the Memorial Day weekend is overwhelming you with recreational opportunities or honey-do obligations, the Portal offers you this opportunity to take a moment to remember those who sacrificed to secure the liberty and freedom in which we relish this holiday.

This YouTube video captures Captain Brian Letendre obliging his community's request to speak at Memorial Day 2005 commemorations in New Britain, Connecticut. Having served a tour in Iraq with the invasion and intial pacification, Capt. Letendre was serving stateside with the 4th Marine Reserves ("New England's Own") at the time of the address.

In the three weeks leading up to the speech, the 4th had entrusted Brian with bereavement duties following the death in Al Qa'im of Lcpl. Lawrence Philippon, 22, of West Hartford. The younger marine, who served in the Marine Corp Color Guard at Ronald Regan's state funeral, had volunteered for front line duty.

"Brian helped us carry the cross of our son's death," the lance coporal's mom said, "and he left sunshine in all of our hearts."

The Captain's very capable address demonstrates his rhetorical proficiency and research skills, but it's at halfway, when Brian relates his own new personal feelings about Memorial Day, that the speech soars.



Confident that he could materially contribute in the redoubled effort to train Iraqi troops, Brian volunteered for a second tour in Iraq. He was killed in a co-ordinated car bomb attack in Al Anbar Province, May 3, 2006.

In March of 2008, Brian's widow, Autumn, and their 4 year old son Dillon returned to New Britain for the dedication of the Captain Brian Letendre USMC Memorial Park across from their old home.

"Dillon's only a child," Autumn Letendre said, "but when he's an adult, I think this will be another location to place the puzzles of his life together."

Part of what Memorial Day is about is providing a missing part of the puzzle to military families, a vital part of Memorial Day is in expressing our gratitude for the sacrifice our patriots and their families have made for to our nation.

The Lion of Fallujah

Major Doug Zembiec fell one year ago in a Baghdad firefight. He had volunteered himself out of a stateside deskjob for his fourth deployment in Iraq.

Son of an FBI agent, Doug Zembiec grew up in Albuquerqe, New Mexico. Classmates remember a champion against bullies and a champ on the wrestling mat, winning state titles for the school.

The charismatic Annapolis grad was a marine's marine and unapologetic warrior, "a military hybrid of modern tactics and ancient attitude."

The Arlington National Cemetery Association's tribute page to the Major archives this from the Washington Post coverage of the funeral.

About 40 enlisted men gathered under a tree, telling stories about their former commander. Some had flown in from as far away as California, prompting one officer to observe: Your men have to follow your orders; they don't have to go to your funeral.

The men knew firsthand how Zembiec, who lived outside Annapolis, had come to be known as the Lion of Fallujah. The story is one of their favorites. It was 2004, in the Jolan district of Fallujah, and Zembiec was a captain. They were on a rooftop, taking fire from AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. They tried to radio an Abrams tank below to open fire in the direction of the enemy. No good. Zembiec raced down the stairs and out to the street and climbed onto the tank. Gunnery Sergeant Pedro Marrufo, 29, who watched from the rooftop, remembers Zembiec getting a Marine inside the tank to open the hatch. Insurgents shot at Zembiec as he instructed the men in the tank where to fire.

Corporal Chad Borgmann, 28, who went to Zembiec's funeral from Camp Pendleton, California, said yesterday that boarding tanks during firefights and similar actions is typically the work of enlisted men. If a Lance Corporal falls, there are 40 to take his place. But there are fewer Captains, Borgmann said, and fewer still who always seemed to be out in front. "He let us know it was his privilege to lead us," Borgmann said, walking back to a car through the graves of Arlington before heading out to meet up with his Marine buddies at the Clarendon Grill.

It's worth noting that it was his guys, the men of Echo Company 2/1, who Doug Zembiec considered the real lions of Fallujah. He says as much in a battlefield interview with an embed reporter that appears in an NBC Nightly News tribute to the Major.

The other element worth noting in the NBC News tribute is the emotion Defense Secretary Gates displays in front of the Marine Corps Association during his remarks about Major Zembiec. It's a hopeful sign when those entrusted with the well-being of our troops are as overwhelmed as we by their selfless service and trust in our nation.

"Where'd you go ?"

The Iraq Memorial Portal had its genesis between the fourth anniversary of President Bush's "major hostilities" carrier touchdown and Memorial Day '07. Our founders found themselves grumbling that with some 3,600 fatalities -- a straight-up average of 10 per calendar day -- any day could be Memorial Day but hardly any mention of fallen individuals could be heard in the media.

A study released last month (03/12/08) by Pew Research for the People and the Press confirms -- sure enough -- a decline in media coverage of Iraq from January '07 to the present. Not surprisingly, by March of this year, only 28% of respondents knew the number of fatalities in the war.

In our research last summer, the Portal came across this tribute posted at YouTube by "someguy076" during that slump in coverage [ note: lyrics contain profanity, no gore in visuals ]. We took it as encouragement to continue trying to capture attention for the men and women who sacrifice so much for our country.





One of the marines commemorated is Captain Brian S. Letendre. Brian fell two years ago today (5/3/06) in Ramadi.

The three other "fallen brothers" someguy asks us to remember in his video are Lcpl. Kurt Dechen, Lcpl. Chris Cosgrove, and Cpl. Jordan Pierson.

God bless the fallen and their families, and God bless you, someguy.

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UPDATE: Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go" unblocked. Please join the Portal in lobbying the band and their publishers to allow its use in someguy076's memorial at YouTube: his location audio and the video combines brilliantly with a song that was soundtrack to a singular time.