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Hood River News Editorial
August 5, 2006
A flag at half-staff is a symbol honoring death but it represents a
human life.
When flags next go to half-staff in Oregon it will be for a Navy SEAL
who lived and went to high school in Hood River.
Marc Lee is a hero. He died in combat in Ramadi, putting himself into
fatal harm’s way for the sake of his comrades. Please click on
Local man dies in Iraq saving fellow SEALS
for details.
Words are mere symbols for thoughts and emotions we humans try to
express, and none but a fellow soldier or a military family can
adequately express in words the weight of the death of a loved one in
wartime.
Many in the community will remember Marc Lee from Hood River and his
years at Summit Christian School (now Horizon) and his days playing
soccer for Hood River Valley High School.
Once a part of this community, always a part of the community. Marc’s
mother, Debbie, recently moved to Arizona; she ran a day care business
in Hood River and reached out to military families following the start
of the Iraq war by offering free day care for anyone with a spouse
serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Now this mother of a fallen soldier mourns for her son. Debbie was
profiled in the Sept. 26, 2001 Hood River News, about her feelings at
having two sons in the military — Marc and Kris, now 32, who served in
the Marines — along with her son-in-law, Chris Wells, then in the
Army.
At that time, Debbie commented, “Terrorism has gone on so long and
with no consequences.
“Even though that may mean loss of lives — even for one of my guys —
it’s time for something to be done.”
Now that her son has indeed been killed in battle, a deep measure of
compassion and respect must go out to Debbie, and her family, for the
strength and resolve she has shown in the face of personal tragedy.
Take a moment to consider the short but full life of Marc Lee. He is
one of us. |
