I recently retired after 35 years service with the U.S. Air Force, the Air National Guard, the Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Inactive Reserve.
Perhaps the most memorial experience for me, over the
course of decades, was the privilege of memorializing a fellow National Guard
member who made the ultimate sacrifice. SGT Tracey Brogdon fulfilled the rather
“in your face” motto of every member of our armed services. “We have to go out.
We don’t have to come back.”
In the fall of 1990 the elder President Bush responded to
Saddam Hussein’s blatant march into Kuwait by pouring thousands of our active
duty and reserve forces into Saudi Arabia. The 325th Maintenance
Company of the Florida Army National Guard was one of dozens of reserve units
that received the call.
Tracey was a single mother of a toddler when she received
her notification. The mission of the 325th was to repaint hundreds
of jungle camo-colored vehicles a drab desert brown. One day blended into
another, and each day was much the same as the one that preceded it. The
conditions in the desert paint shop were harsh, and many guardsmen experienced
permanent respiratory ailments, and were medically retired when they returned
to the United States.
There are old video segments of Tracey and her comrades
filmed by local television crews. Even in those horrid conditions, her smile is
contagious. She was determined to make the most of a difficult assignment… (and
she did.)
Operation Desert Storm worked its way to a successful
conclusion, and the 325th was scheduled to return to the United
States. Of course, the news was met with smiles and cheers, and the morale of
Tracey’s unit rose to the stratosphere.
Just prior to shipping out, SGT Brogdon was traveling in
a convoy, and had laid down in the backseat of one of the unit’s maintenance
trucks. Suddenly the driver slammed on brakes in an attempt to avoid a
collision with a stalled civilian vehicle. Tracey slid violently forward and
her head slammed into a military radio mount. She died instantly. SGT Brogdon
was the only casualty among Florida Army National Guard units during the
Persian Gulf War. She was afforded the standard military funeral, and was
interred in Wildwood Cemetery, Bartow, Florida; her beloved hometown.
The news of this precious young lady’s death had a
significant impact on me. My own National Guard unit, the 2nd
Battalion, 116th Field Artillery, had avoided the call, but I was
determined to do… something. I committed to write a poem about this fine young
soldier. And all during that process I felt a peculiar “presence,” as though
someone, (perhaps Tracey, herself) wanted it written. Having finished the
narrative, I felt compelled to take it a step further.
I contracted a trophy
shop to inscribe the poem onto a metal plaque. In the meantime, I contacted the
commanding officer of the 325th Maintenance Company and requested
the opportunity to present the tribute. On such and such a day, the troops were
assembled in military formation, and I read the commemorative poem aloud. The
plaque was hung in the lobby of Tracey’s beloved unit; a permanent reminder of
her sacrifice.
Though I never knew her, I stop by SGT Brogdon’s
gravesite from time to time. I clean the cross, mounted just behind her
government issued headstone. I gently kneel, and brush debris from off the
granite base. And just prior to leaving, I render this fine soldier, mother,
and daughter a well-deserved salute.
Thank you, Tracey. You gave your tomorrows for our todays.
by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending
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