Day 84, Walk for Warriors

I arose early to get the jump on Alabama. A soft cover of gauze lay over the campground and seemed to keep the area cool and safe from the coming day. The sun took its time rising over the tree tops and allowed me to make one more cup of tailgate coffee which I enjoyed to its fullest. It was going to be hard to leave a Mississippi. I had come to regard her as a special friend.

My transformation was complete after a short time in her embrace. The taste of her sweat, the soft slow song of her voice, and the shadow she gave under heavy bow was all Mississippi. My gate picked up the beat of the road and I was backed by the string section of insects that could be called upon to roar with a wave of my hand.

I dawdled at the campsite, making sure everything was tidy before I left. But I was just trying to hold onto something vague but valuable. The sun threw a string of light over the pines and chased me away like a teenage boy from a daughter’s bedroom window.

So many times as I walked in a dream, my thoughts took me back to another red dust far away. I was transported to a strip of dirt where I fully expected a hunter in shabby rags to bust out of the bush with a gazelle over one shoulder and a pipe hanging precariously out of the corner of his mouth. “Mbolo, tata,” I would have said. Then my mind would wander back as I side-stepped the carcass of an armadillo that had been all but consumed by the ants and crows.

I remember having been especially pleased to see the scrubbed white and pink church at the top of the road one morning. The light hit it just so and gave it a fresh and happy look. The Mt. Gilead Baptist Church could be counted upon to shine even during the week. Its white pillars and soft pink stucco looked like someone stood guard over it night and day to protect it from decay. Each time I saw it a man toiled busily either mowing around it, taking care of its cemetery or washing something in the rear of the building. That man had a good job and he was proud to perform it.

I left Toomsuba with some reluctance but I knew I had to venture forth. I had minor business to conduct in Birmingham. I got there by the opening bell at eight o’clock. I was helped by a young man of no more than twenty but his belt size had grown to seventy inches. I have seen too much of that on this trip. It used to startle me. But I’m no one to judge since I am probably the only man in America who can walk six hours a day and still look like he had just polished off a sixer down by the river.

I can say for a fact that Alabama is covered with forests. Everywhere I looked from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham and from Montgomery to Mobile, forests covered every inch of terrain except where someone had decided to build a factory or a subdivision. Today’s drive resembled one in Washington State but for the fact that the temperature was a steady 96 degrees in all directions.

I pulled in by the Gulf of Mexico for a look before checking in at the Perdido Bay KOA. Highway 59 deposited me right on the sand. Miraculously, a parking spot opened for me as I pulled in. The sand was white with no signs of oil but I was told that it had come and gone out twice since the spill. Booms were strung randomly along the wave line of the beach. In the bay where I am staying, booms were floating in long arches but I could see no evidence that they were needed for now.

I walked on a high bridge over the bay near the campground. From there I could see homes with docks and people fishing along the banks of the bay. A couple scooted by on a jet-ski far below me and disappeared to the other side of the bridge before I lost interest. Pine trees looking like tin soldiers faced the bay at stiff attention. They had perfect separation from one another and that allowed for excellent and easy walking among their ranks.

Tomorrow I will walk to the gulf side and try to cover as much ground as I can along a white sand beach and a growing population of tourists who are hoping for a glimpse at a tar ball.

Throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars the National Guard has played an integral part in combat operations and support. Because of their increased role they have suffered tremendous casualties and also exhibited outstanding combat excellence and courage. Here are some examples of National Guardsmen and women who have distinguished themselves.


Staff Sgt. Timothy F. Nein
617th Military Police Company, Kentucky National Guard

Nein, along with other unit members, distinguished himself in action on March 20, 2005. A three-vehicle, squad-sized element of his company was escorting a convoy of 30 trucks driven by civilian contractors along Alternate Supply Route Detroit, Iraq. The convoy was attacked by 50 enemy fighters, using rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and small arms. Most of the enemy was concealed in an irrigation ditch and orchard, making them difficult to engage. The initial attack disabled the lead truck of the convoy, blocking the rest in the kill zone. Nein had members of his squad move forward to outflank them on the right side. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester ordered her Humvee gunner to place covering fire on the enemy positions.

Hester then moved her vehicle to a flanking position and dismounted, ordering her gunner to continue his fire into the orchard, adding hers to the battle. Using her M4 carbine with an attached grenade launcher, she fired grenades into the field. While this was happening, Nein, noting an insurgent behind a 10-foot embankment, threw a grenade, killing him. He then moved forward to the right side of the berm, followed by Hester. Nein quickly engaged and eliminated five enemy fighters. As they proceeded along the embankment, they both continued to take out insurgents, with Hester killing three. Once they reached the end of the trench, Nein called a cease fire.

In total, this action resulted in 27 enemy fighters killed and seven captured (six of them wounded). While the squad suffered at least four serious casualties, none died from their wounds.

A National Guard Bureau Heritage Series painting of this action “Raven 42” can be found at http://www.ngb.army.mil/resources/photo_gallery/index.html?lib=heritage/index.htm.
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Staff Sgt. Timothy F. Nein
617th Military Police Company, Kentucky National Guard
(DSC)

Sgt. 1st Class Joshua D. Betten
Company A, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group, Florida National Guard

Sgt. Russell L. Collier
Battery A, 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery, Arkansas National Guard

Spc. Richard A. Ghent
1st Battalion, 172nd Armor, New Hampshire National Guard

Spc. Jason Harrington
Company A, 1st Battalion, 172nd Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Pennsylvania National Guard

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester
617th Military Police Company, Kentucky National Guard

1st Lt. Tyler J. Jensen
19th Special Forces Group, Utah National Guard

Spc. Gerrit Kobes
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry, Washington National Guard

Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Lewis
Company A, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group, Florida National Guard

Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg
Company A, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota National Guard

1st Lt. Michael J. McCarty
Company C, 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry, 39th Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas National Guard

Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin
Brigade Effects Coordinator, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard

Staff Sgt. Michael J. McMullen
243rd Engineer Company, Maryland National Guard

Spc. Jason L. Mike
617th Military Police Company, Kentucky National Guard

Tech. Sgt. Keary J. Miller
123rd Special Tactics Squadron, Kentucky National Guard

Sgt. Robert S. Pugh
Company A, 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry, Mississippi National Guard

Staff Sgt. Joseph Proctor
638th Support Battalion (Aviation) Indiana National Guard

1st Sgt. Kevin K. Remington
957th Multi-Role Bridge Company, 142nd Combat Heavy Engineer Battalion, North Dakota National Guard

Spc. Brian M. Sheetz
Company C, 1st Battalion, 103rd Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard

Staff Sgt. Emmett Spraktes
Company C, 1-168th General Support Aviation Battalion,California National Guard

Sgt. 1st Class Chad M. Stephens
Company A, 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry, 30th Infantry Brigade, North Carolina

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