Tonight we honor a young soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Since 2001, 2272 U.S. troops have lost their lives while serving in Afghanistan; since 2003, 4488 U.S. troops have lost their lives while serving in Iraq.
I Got The News Today (IGTNT), which is the oldest continuous series on Daily Kos, provides members of this community a venue to pay their respects to those who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The IGTNT title is a reminder that nearly every day the family of an active duty service member receives the terrible news that their beloved has died.
~ Photo Credit Timroff
The Department of Defense has announced the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Spc. James T. Wickliffchacin, 22, of Edmond, Okla., died Sept. 20 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol during combat operations in Pul-E-Alam, Afghanistan on Aug. 12. He was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, GA.
Please join me tonight for a remembrance of his life.
Spc. James T. Wickliffchacin
James grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma, and was a 2010 graduate of Edmond Santa Fe High School. He also attended the U.E. Maria Auxiliadora school in Venezuela.
An infantryman, he joined the Army in June 2010. This was his second deployment; he had served in Iraq from March until June 2011.
His former school principal, Jason Brown, said of James:
"I remember him as a polite and upstanding young man who very much wanted to go into the military. It was a choice and a dream and something he had planned to do."
In May, after being deployed to Afghanistan, James wrote on his Facebook page:
I am proud to carry the legacy of my family. We are warriors at heart that fight against all odds to protect those who need us. there is nothing else that i would rather be doing with my life.
In another post from Afghanistan he said:
some may say that i've never amounted to anything, but i've never felt so acomplished.
He posted after he was gravely wounded, on August 12, that he was really angry about what had happened. That was the last time he posted.
Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said Wickliffchacen has been awarded the Purple Heart and the Army Commendation Medal of Valor posthumously.
James is survived by his parents and several siblings. Funeral arrangements are pending.
James posted this on Facebook in 2011, and I think it shows the heart of this brave young man:
Infantrymen have a pride and arrogance that most Americans don't understand and don't like. Even soldiers who aren't infantrymen don't understand. The pride doesn't exist because we have a job that's physically impressive. It certainly doesn't exist because it takes a higher level of intelligence to perform our duties. It's sad and I hate to admit it, but any college student or high school grad can physically do what we do. It's not THAT demanding and doesn't take a physical anomaly. Nobody will ever be able to compare us to professional athletes or fitness models.
And it doesn't take a very high IQ to read off serial numbers, pack bags according to a packing list, or know that incoming bullets have the right of way. The pride of the infantryman comes not from knowing that he's doing a job that others can't, but that he's doing a job that others simply won't. Many infantrymen haven't seen a lot of combat. While that may sound ideal to the civilian or non-infantry soldier, it pains the GRUNT. We signed up to spit in the face of danger. To walk the line between life and death and live to do it again - or not. To come to terms with our own mortality and let others try to take our life instead of yours. We have raised our hands and said, "Take me, America. I am willing to kill for you. I am willing to sacrifice my limbs for you. I will come back to America scarred and disfigured for you. I will be the first to die for you."
That's why the infantryman carries himself with pride and arrogance. He's aware that America has lost respect for him. To many he's a bloodthirsty animal. To others he's too uneducated and stupid to get a regular job or go to college. Only he knows the truth. While there are few in America who claim to have respect for him, the infantryman returns from war with less fanfare than a first down in a high school football game.
Yes, people hang up their "Support Our Troops" ribbons and on occasion thank us for our service. But in their eyes the infantryman can detect pity and shame; not respect. Consider this: How excited would you be to meet the average infantryman? Now compare that with how excited you'd be to meet a famous actor or professional sports player and you will find that you, too, are guilty of placing the wrong people on a pedestal. You wouldn't be able to tell me how many soldiers died in the war last month, but you'd damn sure be able to tell me if one of the actors from Twilight died.
Yet the infantryman doesn't complain about that. He continues to do his job; to volunteer his life for you, all while being paid less in four years than Tom Brady makes in one game. It's a job most Americans don't understand, don't envy, and don't respect. That is why we have pride for the infantry...
~LINK~~LINK~~LINK~
Rest in peace, Spc. James T. Wickliffchacin. You have served with honor.
"I Got the News Today" is a diary series intended to honor, respect, and remind us of the sacrifice of our US troops. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, SisTwo, SpamNunn, TrueBlueMajority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, maggiejean, JaxDem, and me, Ekaterin.
These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but are an important service to those who have died, and show our community’s respect for them. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members mentioned here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.