Michael's Dispatches

Details

Published: Monday, 17 August 2009 03:20

A phenomenon in need of a name.  Mark Hale had liked this image and the next.

I spent two weeks searching for a fitting handle but all attempts came to naught.

The halos are different every night.  Some nights they are intense, other nights dim, but often there are no halos.

There are explosions and fighting every day and night.

Under the moon.

This time exposure shows where the pilot briefly hovered before dropping in.

Our casualties in this war reached an all-time peak in July 2009 and the heaviest fighting was here in Helmand Province.  On 10 July, elsewhere in Helmand, some of America’s finest soldiers were hunting down Taliban.

Members of the U.S. 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment closed space with the enemy, apparently killing at least ten.  Corporal Benjamin Kopp was shot and evacuated to Germany, then back to the United States, where he died just over a week later on 18 July.  Benjamin was 21 years old and at the very tip of the spear.  If not for such men, we would be at the mercy of every demon.

Benjamin Kopp and his comrades were delivering the latest bad news to the sort of people who harbored the terrorists who attack innocent people around the world every day, and who attacked us at home on 9/11.  Ranger Kopp was a veteran with three combat tours.  He knew the risks, yet continued to fight.

Benjamin was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates quietly attended the funeral, as did my good friend, Colonel Erik Kurilla, the new commander of Ranger Regiment, where Kopp served until America lost one of its finest Sons.

Yet the effect of Corporal Kopp did not end on the battlefields of Afghanistan; he only regrouped and continued to serve.  Corporal Kopp had volunteered as an organ donor and his heart was transplanted.  Two days after most people would have died, Benjamin Kopp’s heart was transplanted into Judy Meikle.  According to the Washington Post, Meikle said, "How can you have a better heart?" said a grateful Judy Meikle, 57, of Winnetka, Ill., who is still recovering from the surgery. "I have the heart of a 21-year-old Army Ranger war hero beating in me."

Other organs were also donated for other recipients.

Benjamin Kopp’s case is reminiscent of so many others whose names are and faces will forever remain unfamiliar to most of us.  The Angels Among Us are nearly always invisible to our eyes until it’s too late to say “thank you,” and “farewell.”

On August 11, I attended a small ceremony for a British soldier from this base in Helmand who was killed in combat the day after Benjamin passed.  His name was Joseph Etchells.  I was told how Joseph died in a bomb ambush, and that his last request was to be cremated, loaded into a firework, and launched over the park where he used to play as a kid.  When Joseph’s last request was explained, I burst out laughing and the British soldier who told me also was laughing.  The absurd humor of Joseph’s request was familiar, and it was as though Joseph were standing there with us, laughing away.

Lieutenant Alan Williamson was “Joey’s” platoon commander here in Sangin.  LT Williams said that the other soldiers called him “Etch,” or Joey, and that Etch was born in 1987.  He joined the army at age 16, though he could not deploy for combat until he was 18.  Etch did a tour in Northern Ireland and three tours in Afghanistan, including 2006 in Now Zad where he endured 107 days of straight combat wherein they fought literally every day.  In 2007 Etch deployed to Kabul and then performed “Public Duty” by guarding the Queen outside the palaces.

Lt Williams said that Etch was a, “Young and very keen Section Commander.  Most Section Commanders like to be a few men back so they can command without being in immediate danger, but “Etch” refused to be that far back, and was always right behind the [“point man.]  He was an outstanding runner.  He left his fiancé behind.  He would have been a very young sergeant.  He was an outstanding, outstanding soldier.”

Joseph Etchells and Benjamin Kopp were both Corporals in different armies.  Both had served three combat tours.  Ben was 21, Etch was 22, and they both fought their last battles in Helmand Province.  The names of these British and American warriors are listed consecutively in a roster chronicling our sacrifices in Afghanistan.

Last month there had been a large service here for Etch, but I witnessed a much smaller service where those closer to him came together to pay final respects.  This service in Sangin occurred on the same day that a final ceremony was being held back in the United Kingdom.  About twenty soldiers attended.  The event was quiet and respectful and I wanted to be back in the United Kingdom to salute the rocket launch as it carried away the payload of Joey’s ashes, and exploded over the park.  Here in Sangin, the bugler played and his buddies tossed their cap feathers into the Helmand River.  The red and white feathers drifted away in the same waters where Etch used to swim after missions, down into the desert.  Here they call it the “Dashti Margo,” the Desert of Death.

And so a fitting name had arrived to describe the halo glow we sometimes see in Helmand Province: Kopp-Etchells Effect, for two veteran warriors who died here in Helmand, Ben on the 18th, Joe on the 19th of July in the year 2009.  It’s not hard to imagine the two Corporals have already linked up and regrouped, and in sense they have.  Knowing combat soldiers, it’s easy to imagine them laughing away at the idea.

The Kopp-Etchells eponym can be seen as a cynosure for the many who have gone before the Corporals, and those who will follow.  I had talked to Captain Mark Hale nearly every day for two weeks.  Mark liked the name.  And then Mark himself was lost on Thursday along with Daniel Wild as they were aiding a wounded Matthew Hatton.  I heard very good things about Daniel Wild.  They say he was a good and tough soldier.  I’d seen Matthew Hatton on the battlefield and felt more confident by his presence.  Hatton was a well-respected man.  As for Mark Hale, I only knew him for two weeks.  Mark will be missed by many people, myself included.

The war goes on and all the fallen soldiers know what we must do.  We must keep moving.  There will be time in the future to pay proper respects, and to reflect upon their honor.  Now is not that time.

While waiting for a helicopter to land, there was activity on the perimeter, and then an unseen hand fired a flare so that we could see who was out there.

Epilogue:

The following men and women sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan since the time that Benjamin Kopp and Joseph Etchells passed on.  I am told that more names will soon be added to the list:

http://icasualties.org/OEF/Afghanistan.aspx

*Note: some photos were slightly altered to obscure base defenses.

• Prev
• Next