I’m usually on my way to work in downtown Cheyenne by the time reveille erupts from "The Big Noise" loudspeakers at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. It reminds me it’s 7:30 in the morning. It reminds me that one of the world’s largest tactical nuclear sites sits right at my doorstep. It also reminds me that there’s a war on.
Wartime reminders like this remain few and far between. I’m a news junkie so I devour online news about Iraq every day. But daily elements of the wars being waged in my name are rare. The Big Noise reminds me in the morning and at 10 each night when "Taps" plays. How many died today in Iraq, Mr. Bush? How many 19-year-old soldiers from Anytown, USA, had their legs blown off? Whenever I see a soldier or marine in uniform, I automatically wonder whether he or she has been in Iraq. If so, what life-altering experience have they been through?
This week will be busy with wartime reminders. It’s Cheyenne Frontier Days. Today’s parade will feature Wyoming Army National Guard vehicles and Guard soldiers in battle dress passing out candy to the kids. The Air Force has a float, as do Marine and Navy recruiters. The color guard will be one of the high school ROTC units, or a special Army unit brought up from Fort Carson, Colo., a place that’s seen hundreds of its soldiers killed and maimed in Iraq.
Later today, F.E. Warren holds it open house. Visitors can tour a Minuteman ICBM launch facility and go inside a "nuclear payload transporter," one of the big blue trucks we see roaring down the highway accompanied by armed guards in USAF humvees and SUVs. You can watch a group of World War II reenactors, The Sightseeing Sixth Infantry Division, restage a battle. Buffalo soldiers from F.E. Warren’s frontier era will be there.
On Sunday, the USAF Thunderbirds fly into town. They’ll perform their amazing feats on Wednesday, which I never miss. The pilots will be in the Tuesday parade and will spend a lot of time schmoozing the populace. My wife, Chris, has often wondered how the Air Force finds so many talented and handsome pilots. It is uncanny – they all look like cast members from "Top Gun." And not all are men, not anymore. But they are one hell of a recruiting tool. The recruiters are out in force this entire week, but especially during the Thunderbirds air show and at the Air National Guard open house later that day. I expect that these kinds of events are a Happy Hunting Ground for recruiters. The war is far away and the planes and tanks and humvees and Blackhawk choppers and stealth fighters are so darn cool. Where do I sign?
An increasing number of Air Force personnel are being killed and wounded in Iraq. Last month, an airman from Ohio stationed at F.E. Warren died in combat. Navy corpsmen get killed right along with the Marines they patrol with. The recruiters don’t tell you that. "Look at all the neat airplanes – and don’t forget that we pay for college."
Once Frontier Days week is over, the town returns to its normal sleepy state. The Big Noise will continue to wail. In the White House, the Big Fool says to push on.