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I always think of Steve Langmack on Memorial Day. A few months before he was killed, we sat in Huske in Fayetteville while my husband & his wife tried to outdrink each other. I was pregnant & the DD. I told him that I was nervous about becoming a parent.
“You’ll be fine,” he assured me. “If you wait until you have enough time, money or patience to be a parent, you’ll never do it. So you just do it, & it all works out.” Steve was a wonderful dad to his boys. I knew he was speaking truth. He never got to meet my baby. His youngest
just graduated from college this year. Steve was KIA in Iraq on May 31, 2005. DOL RLTW RIP.
His wife told me she slipped this poem into his casket. This was Steve. This was every guy I’m thinking about today. Too many great men gone.
I think that’s what frustrates me most about Memorial Day- there’s no way to capture all that these people were in a snapshot & a statement. They died as warriors, but they lived as pranksters, parents, lovers, jokers. To a person, every friend I’ve lost was larger than life.
And the hole they left is still massive, even 15 years later. Every one of these guys had a huge personality, & you can’t tell that from those stiff DA photos or a sterile military bio. None of them wanted people to think of them with tears. But it’s hard not to cry knowing how
much has been lost. I’ve sat through so many memorial services that I can’t drive past JFK Chapel on Bragg anymore. The last time I tried I had a panic attack—the only time I’ve ever had a panic attack. I can’t listen to the Ballad of the Green Berets anymore.
“Put silver wings on my son’s chest...” My body screams out “NO!” when I hear it. And my pain is so small compared to the pain felt by their families. The seat at my table still has a person in it, & only by sheer luck
What I’m saying is, you should have known Steve. He was really great, the very best of us.
@KeniThomas just shared this song & said it was dedicated to Steve. It’s a great song & well worth a listen.
@KeniThomas played a benefit I planned for Gold Star families years ago. This song of his had us all in tears, especially the widows. This sums up why we honor our fallen today.
