I make references to past postings, stories, and ongoing projects of mine, but I rarely repeat a vignette. My Scotch and Irish families told stories over and over. I have resisted the temptation. But the following date with fate was a significant event in my life and I had posted it in "Seventh Job of Bob - Part III." It earns a revisit here. It was the fall of 1978 and I was driving school bus. Poetically, it was the same route I rode as a student.
In the fall, as the corn reaches ten feet high, intersections become dangerous. One morning, early in the route, I only had ten kids on the bus. I remember a kid in the front saying rather calmly, "that guy ain't going to stop." The driveways in Wisconsin are often a mile long. A man in a pickup truck rammed the side of the bus at full speed out of a drive way. It was a classic T-bone. He probably could not see the bus for the corn. Yet, he was obligated to stop at the end of his drive way. Some long driveways even have name signs and stop signs. Although the bus was a big snub-nose, it was thrown in the opposite ditch where I ran over some small trees as glass and metal flew all around me. Like a city bus, the windshield was the front of the bus. The branches and limbs smashed the front window. Later I was amazed the bus had not rolled over. When we came to a stop back up on the road we could not get out because the door side was completely caved in. I was dazed but I did a quick assessment of my kids and we all climbed out the back door like we had been trained. Actually, I think a couple of the older kids literally pulled me out the back door. The man in the now crushed truck at the end of his drive way, looked - well he looked dead.
Here is the amazing thing. I radioed in - no cell phones in the Seventies. As my head cleared I realized I had to crawl back in the bus to activate the two-way radio. My bus had been totaled. A Sheriff's Deputy came - it took about 25 minutes for him to get out to the boonies - and tended to the other driver. Another bus came and took the kids on to school. I went home. The impact was so significant, the next day I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled.
Can you imagine the gnashing of teeth if an accident like that would happen today in this politically correct, law suit ridden, over-protective culture? I am guessing there would be a half dozen ambulances - I worked on an ambulance for 10 years - on scene, all kids sent to the hospital, a helicopter for the pickup truck driver, and I probably would be plopped in the hospital for a week.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Lance Corporal Richard D. Warner, age 22. Richard was killed from wounds he sustained while engaging the enemy in Babil Province, Iraq, on December 13, 2004. Lance Cpl. Warner was in 1st Platoon, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. He was a riflemen on a foot patrol when attacked by an improvised explosive device fired from a vehicle in Babil Province, Iraq. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel stated Warner was a graduate of Kettle Moraine High School and joined Fox Company in January 2002. His company consists of about 185 Marines and were based in Yusufiya, Iraq. The unit includes Golf Company from Madison. The 2nd battalion was activated in May of 2004 and then deployed to Camp Pendleton, California. They arrived in Iraq in September for a tentative seven month tour of duty. Lance Corporal Warner was the 32nd Wisconsin soldier killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
3,873 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
464 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
28,489 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1,781 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
82 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
6 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
124 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
