Site Logo

In times of crisis at home, Afghan war easy to overlook

Published 1:30 am Sunday, July 10, 2016

By Julie Muhlstein

In times of crisis at home, Afghan war easy to overlook
1/3
In times of crisis at home, Afghan war easy to overlook
Audrey McKee, 78, sits in a folding chair at the corner of Hewitt and Colby Avenues on Friday, holding up the flag and greeting passers by. The Evergreen Troop Support Group member has been at the corner every Friday at noon since shortly after the attacks on 9/11, almost 15 years ago. (Dan Bates / The Herald)
Dexter Mason, 75 (left), and Kevin Moeller (center) of Snohomish wave the Stars and Stripes from the corner of Hewitt and Colby Avenues in downtown Everett on Friday. Moeller said he’s been doing it from day one, nearly 15 years ago, since the attacks on 9/11. “I told my roommate I will be doing this until all of our troops are home,” he said. “Or, when I’m dead, which is probably going to be first.” (Dan Bates / The Herald)

In shadowy woods near Lake Hannan south of Monroe, a tribute to an Army lieutenant killed in Afghanistan rises 40 feet from the ground. The high-ropes challenge course at Camp Hamilton, a Catholic Youth Organization facility, was dedicated in honor of Lt. Brian Bradshaw in 2010.

At Naval Station Everett, a barracks built as part of the Navy’s “Homeport Ashore” initiative is named in honor of a Navy medic killed in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, while serving in 2007 with the U.S. Marine Corps. The Charles Luke Milam Bachelor Housing apartment building was named for the hospital corpsman in 2009.

On the corner of Colby and Hewitt avenues in downtown Everett, several people waved huge American flags and greeted passersby at lunchtime Friday in a show of support for U.S. troops and law enforcement. Since 2001, when the war in Afghanistan began just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Evergreen Troop Support Group has faithfully shown its patriotism in Everett and around the region.

President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he plans to keep 8,500 American troops in Afghanistan until the end of his term. That’s several thousand more than he previously said would be there by early 2017, but far fewer than the tens of thousands that were once in the country. Today, there are almost 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Obama acknowledged that a significant U.S. presence is needed to bolster Afghan forces, and that the Taliban has retaken some territory.

Afghanistan may not be on our minds this summer. Americans are focused on other crises. Thursday night brought the horrifying news that five Dallas police officers had been shot to death and seven others wounded.

That followed fatal shootings of two black men by police earlier in the week in Louisiana and Minnesota.

And in this bizarre presidential campaign season, an FBI announcement heated up the already fiery political rhetoric. On Tuesday, the FBI director recommended no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton in relation to the former secretary of state’s handling of email and classified information.

It’s no wonder if we forget that the war in Afghanistan isn’t really over. For families of those who sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan, it will never be over.

In May 2009, Ri and Michael Milam, parents of Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Charles Luke Milam, talked with me about the Navy naming its barracks for more than 500 sailors in honor of their son. “Young sailors will know about Luke long after I’m gone,” said Ri Milam, of Lake Forest Park.

Her son graduated from Colorado’s Columbine High School in 1999, the same year he lost a friend in the school shooting that killed 13 people there. His mother said that experience led to Luke joining the Navy and becoming a medic.

Paul and Mary Bradshaw, of Steilacoom, along with friends and others, donated $50,000 to build the high-ropes course at Camp Hamilton in honor of their son.

As a boy, Brian Bradshaw had been a Hamilton camper. He later became a counselor who led mountain-biking sessions at the camp, where the spiderweb-style ropes course was created to keep his adventuresome spirit alive.

A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, Bradshaw was part of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. He died June 25, 2009, after being wounded by an improvised bomb in Afghanistan.

After the ropes course was dedicated in May 2010, Mary Bradshaw recalled her son’s camping days. “He was great with kids. He always took care of the underdog, and knew which tack to use with someone — whether to cajole them or just sit and put an arm around them,” Mary Bradshaw told The Herald.

She remembered him as a war hero and “just a kid who always had fun.”

Luke Milam and Brian Bradshaw are only two of about 2,400 American service members who gave their lives in the war in Afghanistan — a war that continues after nearly 15 years.

Audrey McKee, 78, and husband John McKee, of Lynnwood, were among the Evergreen Troop Support Group members waving flags on a downtown Everett sidewalk Friday.

“We started here more than 14 years ago, right after 9/11,” Audrey McKee said. “Our troops are the reason we’re here.”

John McKee, a 77-year-old Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam, said their message goes beyond supporting Americans serving overseas. “It’s supporting troops, police and all our first responders,” he said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

You Might Like