Special Report
A Military Mother’s Day
Displaying the rules that apply: No complaining, move forward together.
POCONO, Pennsylvania — On Sunday Valerie Waters marked her first Mother’s Day since losing her son Jimmy to an IED in Kandahar. He was 21 at the time, July 2011. Her husband Garry Waters, 54, is standing beside her caked in dirt. He’s just completed the 12-mile “Tough Mudder” obstacle course that raises money for wounded veterans.
Fifteen-year-old Joe, the youngest of their five, is laughing nearby with equally filthy Infantrymen from the 10th Mountain Division’s “Dog Company,” his brother’s old unit. In March, Dog Co. returned to Ft. Drum, New York, from southern Afghanistan. Last weekend more than 60 of them carpooled with a pack of wives, friends, and family to run the course in tribute to Waters and their other dead and injured.
“It shows how much of a family they’ve become,” smiles Mrs. Waters, as she watches for the rest of “Team H2O” to cross the charged wires guarding the finish line.
Since Jimmy was killed, the family and Dog Co. have joined clans, keeping in touch via Facebook and care package for the rest of the deployment. “I know it was hard,” says Mrs. Waters, a petite blonde in an oversized Team H2O shirt. At first, “we didn’t know what to say to them, they didn’t know what to say to us. But being in contact helped us more than they probably know.”
“For them to do this, it’s a real honor,” adds Mr. Waters, pulling mud from his moustache. His wife jumps and starts hollering; she’s spotted more emerging H20ers, whose day included greased and inclined monkey bars, rock-crawls under barbed wire, a slog through ice water and a few more electro-shocks. The course, designed by British Special Forces, stipulates no “winners” — only finishers. Since launching in 2010 as one of the more profitable brands of military-style mud-runs, the events have been attended by more than half a million “Mudders” world-wide. They pay $90-$200 and must pledge not to “whine” for the privilege.
Their rewards: a bragging-rights headband and one free beer — though not for the underage likes of Andy Waters, now also sprinting into eyeshot. The 18-year-old Waters son completed Army Basic last year and in June will begin advanced Infantry training. His brother Tony, 23, is currently deployed near the Pakistan border. Their only sister, Jennifer, is a mother herself and was unable to join on the family’s 12-hour drive from central Indiana.
The H2O cheering section also includes 22-year-old Sam Dilberian, whose brother Bryan lost both legs and an arm in the same attack that took Waters. “As soon as I heard about it I wanted to come,” grins Miss Dilberian later over a celebratory team dinner. The brunette Brooklynite has spent most of her last year in Maryland at Walter Reed with her brother, who couldn’t make the messy reunion; he’s been busy. “Physical therapy, social workers, everything — you name it, he has to go through it,” says his sister.
Then there’s the “easy life” aspect of recuperation, which Spc. Chang Lee explains with a grimace. He notes an early memory after waking up at Walter Reed, having taken two bullets to the chest and one to his arm when Dog Co. was ambushed last June: “Someone handing me a big tub of Ben & Jerry’s.” The 22-year-old Minnesotan shakes his head. “Free stuff and bureaucrats. It was a really eerie feeling. I was holding my breath the whole time. I didn’t want to see my friends show up.”
Surrounded by them now, Spc. Lee says “it feels like no time has passed.” Pfc. Seth Pack of Utah, aged 20 and missing a leg, nods. Neither is through yet with their recoveries but are already working on post-Army school plans. For the moment, “It’s just really good to be here and to see them all,” says Pfc. Pack.
Ditto for “them,” who used Mudder prep as a mental escape from the remainder of their tour. Sgt. Elliott Quinones, 25 of New Jersey, found it wasn’t hard to talk most of his platoon (and, it turned out, your correspondent) into the challenge. “I don’t think there’s a day that went by that we didn’t talk about it,” he says of their final months in-country. A shrug: “It is that bad over there.”
And as Miss Dilberian notes, there’s nothing particularly unique about their group. “Before my brother got hurt, I was pretty naïve.” Then she made her first trip to Walter Reed. “You see so many-hundreds, all right there — so many boys that got hurt.”
She stops and nods shortly, displaying the rules that apply to all service-members and their families: No complaining, move forward together. Before the post-party progresses beyond printable fare, Spc. Lee puts it simply: “I fight for the U.S. I’ll pass on the whining.”
Letter to the Editor View all comments (38) | Leave a comment
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Jack in Wi.| 5.17.12 @ 6:53AM
It is sad to see so many young lives wasted on nonsense, wars for no sane reason. If one of my kids wanted to join the US Armed Forces, I would fight like hell to talk him out of going. I can't think of war worth fighting. Certainly not some witches brew cooked up the the Israel First gang of chickenhawks. It is too bad a lot of poor and middle class kids are losing their lives or having to live with terrible disabilties because this country has had such rotten leadership. Most of these kids come from evangelical backgrounds and many are seduced by the lack of jobs and the big signing bonuses. Parents owe it to their kids to give them sound advice. The best advice a parent can give to their child, is to stay away from wars and the military.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 5.17.12 @ 7:54AM
Jack, I usually feel it is best to ignore you and your inane remarks, but I can not today. While my most visceral response would be two words suggesting what you should do to yourself, I will try to maintain a somewhat higher path, but by no means civil, response.
The only advice that I will give my children is that the downside of military service is that in addition to protecting all that is great about America, that they also protect vile scum like you. You are a whiny lying coward who is not worth one of the traumatically amputated body parts left behind on these foreign fields. You have no facts, you know little about the military, and my profound wish is that one of these wounded veterans slaps you silly for your condescending remarks about how their naïve inferior selves were duped by “the Jews” into their needless sacrifice, in exactly the same manner as Homer Russell does in “the Best Years of Our Lives”.
RetUSA1/75| 5.17.12 @ 8:44AM
Albert, I have a theory on Jack's comment's. I might help you to understand him better. It goes like this: I believe there are only three type's of Americans. Vets, Great Americans, and civilans. Notice I did not capitalize "civilians." Vets and Great Americans go hand in hand; love of country and especially, family. However, I digress. A civilian only has five thing's in life: Eat, sleep, fornicate, play, and then think about working. Jack's comment's prove he is just a civilian. I hope this helps. Regards, Mike M. in NC.
Jack in Wi.| 5.17.12 @ 9:28AM
I see I have upset the uual suspects. Well no one else seems to care. You boys must not have children. Which is why you don't mind sacrificing someone else's kids to your murderous fantacies. I happened to be in San Diego a couple months ago. I saw a young blind marine with a red and white cane and a huge scar on the side of his head. People who defend this country have my utmost respect. People who are sent overseas to kill people in undeclared, nonsense wars, have my utmost sympathies.
Mike Hawk| 5.17.12 @ 10:57AM
Again Jack, F/U. I have kids as well. We served to defend your right to be a Jackass. So F/U very much.
Moe Blotz| 5.17.12 @ 11:27AM
Youse have all made Jack's day by posting comments in response to his drivel, that is what he lives for. The men and women who wear the US military uniforms neither want nor would accept Jack's "utmost sympathies". Small thoughts come from a small mind.
Jack in Wi.| 5.17.12 @ 11:55AM
That's right: Every time I get an idiotic response from you boys it, makes my day. You never come up with anything but lies, name calling, and nonsense.
Pat| 5.17.12 @ 12:40PM
Thats fine, because your time is dwindling down isn't it? The more of your time we can collectively waste by "making your day" is just a few more minutes your rapidly shrinking time alotment pool goes just a bit shallower each day. So I guess its just a matter of how much you have left to piss away isn't it? Having your day made can be expensive in the long run.
W| 5.17.12 @ 10:36AM
Albert,
Excellent comment. Unfortunately it will not change the minds of people like Jack who hate America.
Best Years of Our Lives is a great movie. I believe the sailor who lost his hands was a real sailor in the war and not an actor. Jack is the snarky guy in the drug store that insults the sailor.
Occam's Tool| 5.17.12 @ 11:52AM
The fellow who lost his hands was an actor, and a man who lost his hands in the war.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 5.17.12 @ 1:18PM
I misidentified him as Homer Russell, but it is Harold Russell, who played a character named "Homer". He lost his hands in a training accident in the Army, and won "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar for his role as the disabled sailor.
W;
You are correct. That drugstore scene was what I pictured as the beginning of the karmic retribution for Jack.
JFGalt| 5.17.12 @ 12:56PM
You miss the point. Americans are getting tired of our govt using the military as a place to keep unemployment down and for population control. These troops are our kids not some abstraction. If we were legitimately out there defending this country like in WW2 then it would be a different matter. We are not prosecuting these wars. We went into Afghanistan and kicked butt and then before it was done, we backed off big time and gave the enemy time to regroup. Iraq had no legitimate purpose as we had no real interest there except to get oil contracts made available to the Chinese because we didn't end up with most of them. Our political leaders are not using the military wisely and the pentagon is operating in Vietnam era mode. Our troopers are the best yet we send them into the field with faulty body armour while each general is allotted their own airplane. We spend money on weapons that fail or that that the pentagon doesn't even want. When your troops win every battle they are in and yet they lose the war - where does that tell you the problem is.
This is why most Americans are against these wars! The real problem comes in when someone tries to critize the military then everyone screams that we are undermining our troops when that couldn't be further from the truth. We must hold our political and miltary leaders feet to the fire and DEMAND that if we are putting our troops / our kids onto the field of battle that we supply them with the best equipment (not simply the most expensive), the best field leaders and the absolute best command leaders (not just a bunch of MBA's).
The my country right or wrong crowd is as misguided in their patriotism as were the Nazis. They stood by Hitler no matter what. Will you stand by OBAMA! no matter what? Veterans fight so that Americans can keep the right to speak up despite liberals assaults on our freedoms but then what does this crowd do when someone invokes that right - they join the liberals in slapping it down. Our troops fight and die in the hope that what they are doing is right and of benefit for our country - but should we ignore the fact that our leaders are grossly failing in that regard? No, we must hold their feet to the fire. You do our troops a disservice by not making sure that their contributions are not wasted. By blindly supporting the military and not questioning you fail them. But then again many people don't have the courage to think for themselves.
We need to stand by our troops / our kids and provide support for them if it takes critizing the military and civilian leadership to push them to do what is right. Unfortunately too many are too stupid to understand that - most of them voted for OBAMA!. Based on what I'm seeing there are a lot of people that must have voted for that fool here as well.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 5.17.12 @ 2:01PM
JFGalt;
I don’t miss the point at all. I don’t call for Jack to lose his right to free speech, I am challenging both the substance and the validity of his remarks and his character, because I am familiar with what he purports to think through his daily postings here, as well as his remarks today, with which I take strong disagreement.
I am challenging his characterization of our troops (and particularly those who have been killed, wounded in action, or otherwise negatively impacted due to their service) as hapless unfit victims of a poor economy and twisted leadership. As a veteran of the post draft military, I can think of no one I served with who articulated a belief that they were anything but volunteers. While some came to serve the country without thought of what was in it for them, most recognized that while their service came with benefits, they could be called upon to give their limbs and their lives. I helped bury many of the latter, and while each loss was a tragedy, I don’t think most saw themselves as victims, but rather as someone who was willing to sacrifice their life, not only for their comrades, but also for the country.
However, unlike the Germans you mention or others who also fought for their country, all of these men and women volunteered and took an oath to support and defend their Constitution of the United States, and not merely its leader. I did not vote for Obama, and I will not, but he did fool a sufficient amount of registered voters to achieve electoral victory, and currently occupies the spot as Commander-in-Chief, unworthy though he may be. I will not denigrate their service or sacrifice merely because the POTUS does not measure up to them. It is not a case of my country, right or wrong, and I measure our military members against their oath, and salute all who live up to it, especially those who give so much (or all) in the process.
As for Jack or others who try to mischaracterize them as untalented dupes victimized by Israel and “the neocons”, my salute is with my left hand, and only the middle finger is extended.
Clint| 5.17.12 @ 4:30PM
Our American Warriors Aren't To Be Used As Cannon Fodder & Our National Treasure Isn't To Be Pissed Away, Policing The Middle East For The Israel Firsters' Agenda.
Read George Washington's Farewell Address, Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, The Old Right And Get Back To Us.
" George Will, "Today, we have a very different kind of foreign policy. It’s called Wilsonian. And the premise of the Bush Doctrine is that America must spread democracy, because our national security depends upon it. And America can spread democracy. It knows how. It can engage in national building. This is conservative or not?"
William F. Buckley, " It’s not at all conservative. It’s anything but conservative. It’s not conservative at all, inasmuch as conservatism doesn’t invite unnecessary challenges. It insists on coming to terms with the world as it is …”
Albert Constantine Jr.| 5.17.12 @ 6:24PM
Clint;
You've posted many things, though I don't recall you slandering our troops in the past, even when you suggest that it was Israel and not Iran/Islamic Jihad/Hezbollah responsible for the truck bomb that attacked the Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983. At least Jack's offensive and condescending remarks were original, and not a robo-post whenever the word "Israel" appears.
At times, Clint, you can be funny and original, even when I disagree with you. You choose instead to be merely prolific by posting and re-posting the same cut and paste quotes (whether relevant or not), and attacking those who disagree with you or point this out.
Please feel free to continue your response in any combination from the following menu, or add some of your own:
-RINO
-CINO
-neocon
-Israel Firster
-warmonger
-Zionist
Lee Ghume| 5.17.12 @ 8:53PM
Also Bibi butt.
Skippy| 5.18.12 @ 3:01PM
Harold Russell played Homer Parrish, and his friend Fred Derry(Dana Andrews)stepped up to whack the a$$hole in the soda shop.
That said, three cheers for your idea.
The Truth| 5.17.12 @ 8:41AM
Lets not forget our board's designated @sshole's tribute to our Navy Seals:
Jack in Wi.| 5.2.12 @ 7:12AM
I would have offered the Seals a huge reward to the one who took Bin Laden alive, if it was possible. They LOVE to torture people for information.
Sad.
Jack in Wi.| 5.17.12 @ 9:33AM
The LIAR yet again misses the point. The capture of Bin Laden alive should have been a prime goal of the raid. He was supposed to be the leader of the whole operation. You would think our leaders would want his information. They certainly have no comupunction about using torture. to get information. The only reason for not taking him alive. that I can see, is that they wanted his mouth shut permanently.
dark man| 5.17.12 @ 10:56AM
Jack - they might want your mouth shut permanently also. Be afraid, be very afraid...
Convoy Commander| 5.17.12 @ 10:52AM
That boy on the right has a limp wrist. Somebody ought to crack it.
Mike Hawk| 5.17.12 @ 10:55AM
Jack, F/U. I come of a family that have Veterans who have served proudly, some as career military. We served to protect your right to be a Jackass. So F/U.
Jack in Wi.| 5.17.12 @ 11:33AM
Baloney: I have 2 aunts and 2 uncles who were WW2 vets. I have numerous other family members who were in the military. So What ! War is all nonsense, and those who push endless wars for no sane reason are enemies of all freedom loving people. The idiots here who want more wars and more kids killed should all go and do the fighting and leave the rest of us alone. A huge number of people who founded this country and came here from overseas wanted nothing to do with wars and a huge standing military. Real conservatives see war for what it really is, a tremendous waste of both lives and property.
Pat| 5.17.12 @ 12:22PM
Sounds like a fine gene pool. Then that begs the question, which one of them fucked the mailman and had you coward?
ladydi| 5.17.12 @ 12:39PM
*Spewed coffee* on that one!
Mike Hawk| 5.17.12 @ 2:19PM
Hey Jack it's F to you , not the others in your family who you disgrace by you lack of respect. Jackass.
Alan Brooks| 5.17.12 @ 6:16PM
More and more I agree with Jack:
there is no strategic coherency to our foreign policy as there was in the '80s- '90s; the game plan seems to be to stay in Ashcanistan for a decent interval, pull out, let another Saddam eventually take over (say a decade from now) in Iraq, and then see what happens. You don't have the pro-activeness that Reagan's people had because you don't have the Vision Thing.
Occam's Tool| 5.17.12 @ 11:53AM
I think TLP has the right idea on what to do with vermin: ignore them.
The wife of a soldier| 5.17.12 @ 11:57AM
Jack... first of all you do not need to agree with the war.... reguardless if we are in a war or not we need a military. Unfortunatly thats just how the world is. Second of all it a choice for these men and women to join and for these men and momen it is a great honor to serve and protect our country reguardless if they even agree with the war or not. I went to the tough mudder with these people in the article and let me tell you i definatly got a better understanding why my husband and his fellow soldiers do their jobs. You have no idea what it is like and what these men and women sacrifice for you and your children to live a safe life. Remember these men and women CHOOSE to do this so you and your children dont have to. I for one appreciate everything these soldiers do for us and the sacrifices they make. I am a proud military wife thats for sure.
Drunken Sailor| 5.17.12 @ 3:02PM
Beautiful reply! Jack is one of those people who will just never get it. People like your husband and those guys in the tough mudder contest are the reason I enjoyed serving and stayed in for 20. Tell them that this retiree appreciates their service and sacrifice. Jack can go to hell.
Occam's Tool| 5.17.12 @ 6:51PM
DS: Thanks for your service protecting me and keeping me safe.
See, Jack? That's how a gentleman does this. But you are the blithering nincompoop who taunted the USSS while they were protecting POTUS. You write with a screwup every other word. You are a blithering idiot.
Jim| 5.17.12 @ 1:58PM
I see these men who are willing to scarifice all, and compare them to the leeches in our society who just take and them whine that it isn't enough. Good thing there are these real men, otherwise the whiners would have been conquered long ago, even by Cuba.
Leeches just don't understand that freedom isn't free, and the goodies can't keep coming if you don't give anything. Those people should be thanking these real men, but they don't, they just keep whining for more, then spit on these men when they come home. Despicable, but clearly acceptable to liberals. Damn shame men have to suffer for those losers, but freedom isn't free.
Not Special Ops Bill| 5.17.12 @ 2:40PM
Men. All men. God Bless 'Em.
Skippy| 5.18.12 @ 3:11PM
My daughter behind the M2 would contest that, Bill.
So would all the jihadis she left in pieces.
LiveFreeOrDie| 5.17.12 @ 5:35PM
First of all I served, USMC so I don't give two licks if anyone agrees with me. Not wanting your children to join today's version of our military is hardly a non-defensible position. We have wars that most people can't understand the reasoning behind. Freedom? The armed forces exist to defend freedom but that's not what's kept them busy the last 20 years.
For me it boils down to a trust issue. Politics have invaded sacred ground, our military, and are changing it from within with their incompatible brand of PC nonsense. And it's a politician who will always be CIC. I don't trust politicians to begin with, I will not entrust my children's lives to one, not anymore.
POST American| 5.17.12 @ 10:24PM
---Speaking of military---
WHY no coverage of the launch of some 30,000
surveillance drones over America at US taxpayer
expense?
And, a little side note in long range planning,
were you aware your ZIP CODE is a targeting
metric for artillery?
TRUE!
SO ----KEEP A GOIN' ---JUST KEEP A GOIN'
----You paid for 'em! ---they're yours!
----------30,000 drones!
---------------ALLLL of them care of --
-----------Good ol' SSSS-CULL and Bones!
JUST KEEP ON GOIN'----------------------------------
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