A military honor guards carries the casket U.S. Army Special Forces Major Paul Syverson III during a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., July 13, 2004. Syverson was killed on June 16 in Balad, Iraq, during a mortar attack which hit his camp. Syverson was assigned to the Army's 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Syverson is survived by his wife Jacquelyn, son Paul IV, daughter Amy, father Paul Syverson II and mother Joy. REUTERS/Mannie Garcia
Jacquelyn Syverson, wife of Army Maj. Paul Syverson III, and son Paul IV, 7, lay flowers on her husband's casket on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Syverson was killed in Balad, Iraq on June 16th. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Army Special Forces Lt. General Philip Kensinger (Left) presents a U.S. flag to Joy Syverson (2ndRight), mother of Major Paul Syverson III, during a full honors funeral at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., July 13, 2004. Major Syverson was killed on June 16 in Balad, Iraq during a mortar attack which hit his camp. Syverson was assigned to the Army's 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Major Syverson's wife, Jacquelyn, embraces their son, Paul IV, at left. The major's father, Paul Syverson II, is at right. REUTERS/Mannie Garcia
Joy Syverson, mother of U.S. Army Special Forces Major Paul Syverson III, is comforted by U.S. Army Special Forces Lt. General Philip Kensinger (Left) during a full honors funeral at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., July 13, 2004. Syverson was killed on June 16 in Balad, Iraq during a mortar attack which hit his camp. Syverson was assigned to the Army's 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Syverson is survived by his wife Jacquelyn (3RDRight), son Paul IV, daughter Amy, Father Paul Syverson II (Right) and mother Joy. REUTERS/Mannie Garcia
U.S. Army Special Forces Lt. General Philip Kensinger presents a U.S. flag to Jacquelyn Syverson (2ndLeft), wife of Major Paul Syverson III, during a full honors funeral at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, July 13, 2004. Major Syverson was killed on June 16 in Balad, Iraq during a mortar attack which hit his camp. Syverson was assigned to the Army's 5th Special Forces Group in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Syverson is survived by his wife Jacquelyn, son Paul IV (3rdLeft), daughter Amy, Father Paul Syverson II (Right) and mother Joy (2ndRight). REUTERS/Mannie Garcia
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
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Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Thanks for posting those. I have spent a lot of time at Arlington over the years and it still grabs my gut ever time I see that cassion. My uncle, and now his son, was (is) the superintendant of Arlington and there is nothing that will raise a tear quicker for me than to hear taps echoing across that hollowed place.
Jack Moroney
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Wenn einer von uns fallen sollt, der Andere steht für zwei.
I too have spent a lot of time at Arlington, but it was to say goodby to my generation of SF...C.Q. Williams, George McGovern, Jack "Iceman" Isler, and a few others. Seeing those VMI cadets in the background sends a shiver up my spine. One of the recent KIAs was a 2003 graduate of the USMA. His twin brother was a BR of my son at VMI.
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