My apologies for being late to the party on the issue I am about to discuss (and my dearth of posts lately) I was taking the Indiana Bar Exam. More on that later.
Nonetheless, by now you have no doubt heard about Army Staff Sergeant, Purple Heart recipient and Columbia University Freshman Anthony Maschek and his “welcome” at a Columbia University hearing on the potential return of ROTC to the campus from the New York Post:
Columbia University students heckled a war hero during a town-hall meeting on whether ROTC should be allowed back on campus.
“Racist!” some students yelled at Anthony Maschek, a Columbia freshman and former Army staff sergeant awarded the Purple Heart after being shot 11 times in a firefight in northern Iraq in February 2008. Others hissed and booed the veteran.
Maschek, 28, had bravely stepped up to the mike Tuesday at the meeting to issue an impassioned challenge to fellow students on their perceptions of the military.
“It doesn’t matter how you feel about the war. It doesn’t matter how you feel about fighting,” said Maschek. “There are bad men out there plotting to kill you.”
Several students laughed and jeered the Idaho native, a 10th Mountain Division infantryman who spent two years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington recovering from grievous wounds.
Naturally, SSG Macshek responded to it all with the class we’ve come to expect from our fighting men and women, telling the school newspaper:
“Thus far, my fellow students have been very interested in hearing about my past life and military experiences,” he said. “Columbia has been attempting to get more veterans to share their experiences here, and the atmosphere here has been supportive despite the actions of a very small minority of the town hall participants.”
Not to be outdone, Marine 2LT (and Columbia ’09 grad) Austin Byrd also wrote an excellent letter to President of the University Bollinger (via Blackfive):
Good Morning President Bollinger,
While I expect your inbox has been flooded with responses to the most recent iteration of the controversy surrounding Columbia’s relationship with the military, I could not help but add my own to the pile. I graduated from Columbia in December of 2009 with a degree in Art History and commissioned as a 2ndLt in the Marine Corps on 23 January 2010 at Alfred Lerner Hall on our campus. I have been critical of the University in the past and continue to be so in regards to its relationship with the military, but I have a great respect and fondness for it as well.
Many of the current attacks on the Columbia community quite fairly hit the mark on the hypocrisy regarding Columbia’s current refusal to allow the presence of an ROTC program on campus. It is indefensible to argue that Columbia need not help to shoulder the burden of our nation’s defense by offering its support to filling out the ranks of the military’s officer corps. In refusing to allow ROTC on our campus we are tarnishing Columbia’s long and distinguished record of service and undermining the University’s deserved reputation as an institution worthy of great respect. While there are legitimate concerns surrounding the return of ROTC to Columbia, whether they be philosophical or logistical, none outweigh the importance of continuing Columbia’s tradition of public service and excellence.
To be fair, where many of these attacks entirely miss the mark is where they paint Columbia as a homogeneous place in which the military is summarily mocked and dismissed. I did not find that to be the case. Indeed, while I often encountered a level of ignorance in regards to the idea of military service that was utterly baffling and disappointing given the school’s role as a preeminent center of learning, I also found there to be great support throughout the student body and the administration. Chaplain Davis was a regular and strong supporter of military efforts on behalf of future officers and veterans alike while I was a student, and the same was true of many of my professors, such as Douglas Chalmers and Kenneth Jackson. Chaplain Davis and some of my professors were kind enough to attend my commissioning ceremony on campus a little over a year ago, an act which I greatly appreciated. In addition, I found Dean Moody-Adams to be amenable and supportive in the short period that I dealt with her during my final semester.
With that, let us remake Columbia’s image with the realities of people like Chaplain Davis and the numerous professors whom I counted as supporters of my decision to serve in the Marines. The realities of the Columbia community are more rich, complex, and robust than the current public debate would indicate, and the return of ROTC would serve to highlight our best rather than herald the embarrassment of our very worst.
Respectfully and, more importantly, Semper Fidelis,
Austin Q. Byrd
2ndLt
United States Marine Corps
The anti-ROTC coalition doesn’t seem to be backing down much if this article from the Columbia Spectator is any indication. They held their own meeting, and some choice quotes from it:
“We feel that the administration is biased in favour of ROTC, and that we cannot discuss our opinions without being portrayed as being unpatriotic or harassing veterans,” Eralp, CC ’14, said.
“Research and education–that is what a university is for,” Morris said. “The logic of the military should be pursued by the military, but not on campus. I am happy to have veterans in class. I am happy to have members of the military in the class when they are there as students, that is, not as soldiers.”
“I think there’s been this really big push to separate the issue of war and ROTC, which I don’t personally understand because the ROTC is a recruiting arm of the military,” Garcia said, disagreeing with a Spectator editorial that portrayed the return of ROTC as separate from ideological objections to war and the military.
“They show it as a neutral educational program, when obviously the main educational program of ROTC is to train soldiers to wage war,” she said.
You can go read the whole thing, but if you are already angry, I don’t recommend it. Good fighting in the comments section though.
I think the entire issue largely speaks for itself, but I’ll share my thoughts anyway, since that is the purpose of the blog. First off, unsurprisingly, I agree with what our National Commander said:
“While we support the right of any student to protest the return of ROTC, we cannot condone the lack of civility and ad hominem attacks directed at one of our nation’s heroes,” Foster said. “The American Legion concurs with Anthony Maschek that ROTC education should be available at every college and university for those who wish to volunteer their service to our country. Students’ time would be better spent honoring this brave soldier for the wounds he sustained in honorable service, and acquiring an appreciation for the price others paid for the freedom they now enjoy.”
For the most part, my various educational endeavors were largely free of such nuisance. You don’t tend to find too many anti-war activists roaming the halls of a southern military college. I spent 1 year at UMASS- Amherst, which just so happened to coincide with the first Gulf War. I was so outnumbered there it was like Gulliver in Lilliput. But, I was proud to have been from a semi-military background, and kept my head up. It was enough however, to drive me right back to The Citadel, which is where I graduated from.
Then I went to law school, and I found my service well respected there as well. Fairly unsurprising since it is one of the most conservative law schools in the country. To be honest though, I hated law school. I liked being around people who were intellectually stimulating, but most of the time we spent discussing issues that largely weren’t in my wheelhouse. Discussing “Motions to Dismiss” really didn’t fire me up the way a ride in a Chinook did, so I went back in for a deployment to A-stan.
I only ever remember getting angry twice. The first time was when my Law of War professor, a retired colonel made some statement about how most men and women fight so hard because of their respect for their officers and how they don’t want to let them down. Um, yeah, ok. The respect for my officers ranked pretty low on my list of why I wanted to fight hard. It was right below “because the local nationals are selling $3 DvDs on Friday, and I need to pick up Deadwood for my Housemate.”
The second time was right after I returned from deployment and an article appeared in the school newspaper talking about how the first year of law school “will be the toughest year of your life.” Um, it didn’t rank in the top 5, much less the toughest. Reading and thinking isn’t as vexatious as some might want to believe. Sure, I missed some sleep during exam time, and I ate a bit more macaroni and cheese than was perhaps strictly necessary for my health. But, I slept in a bed, ate 3 meals a day usually, watched my Red Sox almost every night in class, and no one tried to kill me.
Anyway, I bring this up because yesterday at the bar exam I met a few folks that were very interesting to talk to. I’m not the most amiable guy ever, but I do tend to meet folks. The first was one of the proctors of the exam, who was a Legionnaire. Heck of a nice guy, and whenever I came out to soak my hand in hot water (7 hours of hand written essays gave me serious hand cramps) the guy would smile at me, encourage me, and tell me I could do it. Then I got talking to two other guys, and shame on me, at the time I didn’t get either of their names. One was a young Marine LT who was getting ready to PCS to Quantico. He wants to be JAG (obviously) and joked that if he failed he might get a chance to be infantry. Ah, it ain’t so bad LT, Infantry life is a good life.
The second was a guy who told me about his brother, Tim. Tim was an Apache pilot who served in Bosnia at the same time I did. The brother told me about how Tim got to run security for President Clinton’s helicopter over there. Tim returned and joined the Tennessee Guard to train other Apache pilots. In early 2006 it deployed to Afghanistan with the 4-278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. As the brother told the story, I almost missed what he said next, but when I got home from the exam, it hit me, and I looked it up, as remarkably I remembered the exact date that he had said:
Family members described a National Guardsman from Milan who was killed Sunday in Afghanistan as a beloved husband, father and son.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 William Timothy Flanigan, 37, who was with the Jackson-based 4-278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, was killed in an AH-64 Apache helicopter that crashed shortly after taking off from Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. Enemy fire has been ruled out in the crash, which is still under investigation.
The soldier’s father, William Thomas Flanigan, said Wednesday that he will remember his son, who was known as Tim, as a “straight arrow” and someone whose word “you could take to the bank.”
William Thomas Flanigan, who is trained as an aeronautical engineer, said he spoke with his son frequently during his deployment. He described learning of his son’s death as “unreal.”
“At times you can accept it and at others, you can’t believe it,” he said in a telephone interview from his Indiana home. “He was a very vital person and he touched everyone’s lives.”
Tim Flanigan was piloting the two-man helicopter and served as a Guard training instructor. He had flown since he was a teenager, his father said.
“He probably knew (the Apache) better than the guys who built them,” he said.
His son’s love of flying was paralleled only by his love of service, he said.
There’s a comment on that page that hit me pretty hard from Lyn Mason:
Yesterday, for some reason, I logged on to a site I hadn’t visited for quite some time (patriotguard.org). I was devastated to find out that Timmy Flanigan died in the line of duty back on 02 JUL.
I don’t know what compelled me to check that website …but I did. I was devastated to find that a super trooper and terrific pilot lost his life 02 JUL 06. Timmy was a student of mine when he went through the IFE Prep course at FTIG. Tim was a skillful aviator…and embodied the essence of “team player.” He was a joy to fly with…and I don’t say that about just anyone. I feel honored to have known him. He was one of the most honest and decent people I’ve met in my life. He also happened to be an outstanding soldier and aviator.
My heart goes out to his family and so many others that loved him.
He will be sorely missed.
So anyway, from that article I would figure out that the man I had talked to during breaks at the exam was Sean Flanigan. (An excellent Irish name if ever there was one.) I did the math last night too; Sean must have started law school right after his brother’s death. For Sean, no doubt, the first year of law school was one of his hardest.
Taking the bar exam tends to be fraught with a certain degree of stress. For many of the test takers, this could alter their lives. Will they have a better job as a result of the exam? Will they lose a job they have now? For me, passing or failing means only whether I have to take the damn thing again, because I am not leaving the Legion unless they kick me out. I never really intended to be a lawyer, I just want to help out writing First Amendment amicus briefs, and doing what I can for my fellow veterans.
Deebow over at Blackfive reminded me today of the quote from Henry V that “he that bleeds with me today, shall be my brother.” I think all of us active in veterans issues live that as a mantra each day. And thus, as Tim Flanigan is my brother, so too was Sean. I hope he did well on the exam.
But this morning it was really brought home. Many of you know Leta Carruth, one of the greatest veterans’ advocates on the planet. She’s an Honorary Member of 2-503 Infantry Regiment, she’s a blogger (From Cow Pastures to Kosovo) and most of all she’s my friend.
Back when Tim was Killed in Action, Leta lived in Tennessee. Today she sent me an email entitles “CW3 Flanigan – less than 6 degrees of separation”:
Back in 2006 I was perusing Any Soldier for Soldier’s to support from Tennessee. Found a guy and began supporting him. SSG Jeff Harrell. Apache mechanic. I was surprised to learn that SSG Harrell (now retired from the NG) and I had common friends in west Tennessee. Small world.
To get to the point of this email – Jeff was close friends with CW3 Flanigan. Attached is a photo of Jeff speaking at CW3 Flanigan’s memorial service in Afghanistan. Not sure if his brother would want the picture or not but thought I’d send it along. SSG Harrell was hit VERY hard by his death.
The first flag I ever got was from that unit. It has a certificate with an Apache flying over the Afghanistan landscape. Incredibly touching in every respect. I’ve always treasured it and will continue to do so.
I think the stories of SSG Maschek and CW3 Flanigan point out what is best in this world. When Maschek’s story hit the news, service members, veterans and supporters alike coalesced around him and said “Not on our watch.” I applaud and salute everyone who came to his defense. I am largely untroubled by what Anti-ROTC folks at Columbia think about me and my brothers and sisters. But woe befall them when they accuse one of racism for merely doing their duty, and trying to do the best they can for a downtrodden people and for those who would malign him later at town hall events.
And CW3 Flanigan died doing that duty. He left behind a child, a spouse, a mom and dad, and a brother who all loved and respected him. It’s always a crying shame (literally) when someone so great is taken from us early, but I hope the family finds solace in the knowledge that he died doing a duty he clearly cherished.
As the plaque on the wall of my barracks at The Citadel said:
“Duty then is the sublimest word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.” — Robert E. Lee
Let those who did their duty be honored, in life or death.
Salute to SSG Maschek, and Rest In Peace CW3 Tim Flanigan.
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