“Pvt. Steve n T. Drees, 19, of Peshtigo , Wis. , died June 28 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center , in Landstuhl , Germany , of injuries sustained June 24 in Konar Province , Afghanistan , when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire and a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson , Colo. ”

The DoD press releases are clinically factual but fail to make the whole story understandable. Consider this: He finished high school 12 months ago. In those 12 months, he qualified as a turret gunner. Those qualifications include the ability to precisely control a .50 caliber machine gun that is heavy, violent, hot and loud. Secondly, he must keep his head under the most stressful circumstances.

So when the press release reads “small arms and RPG” fire and the news reports that he “suffered a wound to the eye”, one might think that the enemy has a really good sniper. That’s not it at all. As grenades exploded all around Steve n the enemy sent a thousand rounds at him and got lucky with one of them.

His mounted platoon had moved into an ambush. Everything was normal and then suddenly everything was wrong. Soldiers are intensely trained just what to do: Get out of the kill zone. Get out of the kill zone. Get out of the kill zone.

There is one soldier who is the exception to that rule: The turret gunner. He is the one who must suppress the enemy so that his friends can get out of the kill zone. He alone must dominate the battle so that everyone else, both friend and foe, will run and hide.

The family received a letter from one of his battle buddies (In the army, friends call each other by their last names. Good friends sometimes don’t even know the first names. That’s just the way it is.) that was read during a TV news report:

No one else was hurt and it was because of Drees that no one got hurt. He did his job. He did it well. He kept us safe and he is a hero to all of us.

The letter-writer is alive because Steve n faced into the fire. We call them all heroes – as indeed they all are – but no one can dispute that Steve n Drees died heroically. 12 months ago he finished high school. Then he joined, qualified, deployed and saved his platoon.

In a hallway of his high school, adjacent to the auditorium, high on the wall, are class photos. Steve n is featured in one of them on the second row from the top, seventh column from the left. On graduation day, 2008 he received his diploma in that auditorium and then left Peshtigo full of energy and enthusiasm.

On a pleasant summer day, exactly 400 days after Graduation Day, Steve n returned to that auditorium a hero.

It was a 200 mile ride for me but I managed to reach the funeral home by 0800 on a fair Tuesday. We escorted Steve n to his high school, just two blocks away. We would then stand guard all day – the service was to begin at 1700. The long visitation was made easier for us by neighbors who provided all the food and drinks we wanted in the nearby school lunchroom.

In the last hour before the service was to begin, the waiting line extended out the doors and down the sidewalk. This young veteran waited in line. He wore his medals as he is entitled to do and as I wish more would. Notice his Bronze Star. It is an individual military decoration and the fourth-highest award for bravery, heroism or meritorious service. It is awarded to a member of the military who distinguished himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States . HOO-ahhh!

Peshtigo is located in the center of the 8th Congressional District and Representative Steve Kagan, M.D. attended.

As did Jim Doyle, Governor.

Perhaps most significantly, Major General Scott West attended Steve n’s funeral. He went down our flagline shaking hands and taking the full amount of time with each PGRider that was asked of him. I have many photos of him in the harsh sunlight but I use here his official portrait.

And so it was.

Steve n’s mother, father and brother waited inside as friends and neighbors came all day. Some left after a short visit; some stayed for the service. The army rotated soldiers to stand near the casket and the Patriot Guard rotated flag-holders to stand along the side aisles. Other PGRiders stood outside the door of Steve n’s high school.

After the service, about 1830, we escorted Steve n back to the funeral home for the night.

The family invited us to the riverfront park for a picnic. They were very insistent and when I saw the great quantity of food waiting for us, I understood why. The last time I was confronted with a vast spread like this was in nearby Merrill for Ryan Jopek. I still have his decal on the bike windshield.

~~~

We returned to the funeral home Wednesday morning. Most of us would travel in procession but I went to the cemetery in advance with the smaller group.

The property is a long rectangle with short sides at the road and the river. It presents to the street with a simple white sign and a row of 20-foot flagpoles.

The one taller flagpole in the center flew Old Glory at half-mast. Behind it was a granite dedication to “the men and women who served their country.”

The two property corners near the road were occupied by monuments from two wars. North of the flags, the Vietnam plaque lists 15 county residents who fell there between September, 1966 and November, 1970. Little Peshtigo (current population 3300, population then 2700) suffered three KIA from that war: Jim Price, Steve Swatek and Jon Rich.

The granite tribute south of the flags lists the 150 county residents killed in World War II.

Steve n would be buried far from the road, near the river. Also near the river stands this soldier:

At his base we read that this statue is “dedicated to her sons who offered their lives in freedom’s cause” in three wars:

War of Rebellion 1861-1865

Spanish-American War 1898

and the Great War 1914-1918

No list of the dead is offered.

The rest of our detail had found flags and places to stand. It was time to put my camera down and pick my flag up. I took one last look around and saw a Gold Star couple surveying the peaceful setting.

And then I joined a Gold Star mom in line to wait for Steve n.

At 35 minutes past noon, Steve n was returned to the earth. 12:34:56 7/8/9, to be exact. And then I left.

~~~

I had lunch at O.J.’s Midtown Restaurant (which I can recommend) in Gillett (population 1200) and then started south again. In just two blocks I saw another memorial that reminded me of the front of the Riverside Cemetery where we had left Steve n. Naturally I wanted to visit the dedicating monument.

I would have said “all” instead of “any”. And “her” instead if “its”. The other 12 words are okay with me.

The date is 1931. That is important because it tells us what they were remembering when they placed it. They were remembering the War of Rebellion, the Spanish-American War and the Great War.

I returned across the street to my bike where the hardest-working girl in Gillett labored.

Her tenant had left, so Sarah was removing the obsolete façade from her building.

And then on down the road. The threat of rain would be greater farther south so I wanted to get home before dark.

But no Interstate. I took the little roads through the country that had produced so many fine infantrymen and other warriors.

May God bless Marinette County . Sorry for your loss Peshtigo.

Thanks Steve n.

Photography:

Tuesday

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Wednesday

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