Remembering a fallen buddy. This one is very personal...
...and it has been just over three years since it happened. The pain and sorrow has not faded. Neither has the guilt of not being there for him. I found him in this video on Youtube the other day. At 2:52 there is his picture, Lieutenant Colonel Michael E. McLaughlin of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team/28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nptA5uj6ZRY
I served with Mike in Battery A 229th field Artillery (now Battery D 229th) 28th Infantry Division "The Bloody Bucket". One day I was digging a pit for the M60 in some very high heat/humidity at Ft. Pickett, Va.when I heard someone grunting behind me as they swung the pick to break up that tough Virginia soil. I figured it was one of the lower enlisted men helping out the "old" vet but imagine my surprise when I turned around to find then Lieutenant McLaughlin sweating his rear end off there with me! That is the kind of officer and man that he was.
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/1456380.html
I am getting a little too emotional about this right now so I am going to go ty some flies. Thanks for letting me share this.