Published on Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Special Forces troops honor their heroes
By Michael Futch
Staff writer
A wreath adorns the Special Forces monument on Fort Bragg.
After the Special Forces Memorial Day remembrance ceremony, 8-year-old Matthew Phinney sat real proper-like in his crisp white shirt and tie.
Sandi Malia, his 62-year-old grandmother, also was there under an otherwise empty tent on the Army Special Operations Forces Plaza on Fort Bragg. She lost her 68-year-old husband last year to congestive heart failure, and Matthew lost his grandfather.
She now takes care of the boy.
James J. Malia had been “a lifer”with Special Forces. “He was there at the beginning,” his still-grieving widow said.
He could have been buried in Arlington, Va. But Mr. Malia — who earned three Silver Star awards for bravery, a couple of Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star during his years of service — requested to have his ashes scattered over the post.
That’s why Matthew and Mrs. Malia were waiting around. His ashes would be scattered during a HALO — high altitude, low opening — jump later in the day.
“It was his life,” said Mrs. Malia, who expressed surprise that she would still be this emotional 15 months since his death. “If the Army hadn’t thrown him out because his wounds were so severe — he had lost the use of his left arm. They wanted to make him a pencil pusher. He wanted to go back to Vietnam.”
Monday’s service, held outside the U.S. Army Special Operations Command building on the southern end of Fort Bragg, was held to remember such fearless soldiers as James J. Malia. About 250 people, including a good representation of active-duty and retired Special Forces soldiers, attended the ceremony that was open to the public.
During the ceremony, taps was played and a wreath was laid under the Special Forces monument, “Bronze Bruce.”
Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko served as the featured speaker for the service, which paid tribute to the 22 Special Forces soldiers who died in the past year in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the veterans who died over the past year. Csrnko is commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg.
“Some may think of Memorial Day as the day when the swimming pool opens,” he told those on hand.
But Csrnko quoted the words of President Abraham Lincoln: “Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.”
With a row of the states’ flags rustling in the wind, he recalled the origins of Decoration Day, as Memorial Day once was called. He spoke of preparing a new generation of Special Forces soldiers. And, most importantly, he honored those who had made “the highest sacrifice” for their country.
“We never want our warriors to face a fair fight,” said Csrnko. “We always want the advantage.”
Gary Betterton, who is president of the Special Forces Association, said during his remarks: “This is a sacred day for all war veterans. No one has to be reminded.”
Shelly Hodge attended the service with her husband, Carroll, and their three young children.
Red, white and blue runs in this family’s veins.
Carroll Hodge is a retired Marine. Shelly has a brother in the Air Force and another in the Army. Her father served in the Air Force, too.
“We came to honor what they did, what they’re doing,” said Shelly Hodge, who is 42 and is from Rowland. “To show them honor and respect. To teach our children to remember, also.”
During the reading of the Last Manifest, a bell was rung after the name of each fallen soldier was called. At that time, Shelly and her 8-year-old daughter, Lindsey, followed the list of names inside the program, their heads close together.
Once the benediction and the playing of Sgt. Barry Sadler’s “The Ballad of the Green Beret” had ended, some of the folks stood around and chatted and snapped pictures.
Young Matthew Phinney remained sitting, rocking his legs in his chair.
“My husband,” his grandmother said, “was Special Forces all the way.”
She wanted the boy to see where his grandfather had trained. That’s why they had driven up together from Melbourne, Fla., for the ceremony. And, to have her husband’s — the lifer’s — cremated ashes scattered over Fort Bragg.
“Hopefully,” she said, “he’ll follow in his Grandpa’s footsteps.” |
