Opinion

The difference of a few years, miles

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Did you ever Google yourself?

It might not be what you think, although I've been given similar advice by certain unkind individuals.

Because our publication is online as well as hard-copy, going to google.com and typing in "Bruce Crosby" usually brings up several links to previous editions of this column.

I've tried a few times over the years since the advent of the Internet in general and the google.com search engine in particular, and some of the same results keep popping up.

Among many references to "Crosby, Stills & Nash" and other musical talents like Fanny and Bing, there is the "Bruce Crosby's Train Cams" site that offers video from a model locomotive's-eye-view.

But there is another recurring reference that causes me to pause, especially now as we head toward Memorial Day with the fighting in Iraq in the background.

There, on several sites, is a reference to Bruce Allen Crosby Jr.

Born Dec. 26, 1951 in Springville, New York, the other Bruce Crosby was an E4 in the U.S. Army with the 8th Radio Research Field Station, 509th Radio Research Group in South Vietnam.

As the site explains, "Radio Research" was actually a cover for certain units operating under the U.S. Army Security Agency Group, working in electronic intelligence -- or elint, as Tom Clancy likes to call it in his novels.

On March 30, 1972, Crosby and Gary P. Wescott were serving as advisors to the 4th Battalion, Vietnamese Marine Corps. stationed at firebase "Garge" on Hill 550 near Don Toan Mountain and the hamlet of Cua Mai Loc Village in Cam Lo District, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

At about noon March 30, 1972, Spec. 4 Crosby and Spec. 5 Wescott were ordered to maintain radio contact with Detachment Alpha at Quang Tri.

At 2:45 p.m., their Radio Research bunker at Firebase Sarge took a direct hit from a rocket. The round penetrated the bunker wall and exploded inside, caving in the roof and setting off an intense fire.

Westcott is still listed as missing, and Crosby is listed as killed/body not recovered.

Firebase Sarge was abandoned 37 hours after the rocket struck.

On March 30, 1972, I was probably working on my golf game at Sutherland High School. I was never good enough to compete seriously, but I did enjoy the fresh air and sunshine that went along with trying to outwit the sand greens at the reservoir. Creating a good putting surface with a sand drag is just as important as the putting itself.

In any event, while my namesake was losing his life in a bunker in Southeast Asia, I was still a few months away from registering from the draft.

What a difference a few years, and a few miles, can make.

This Memorial Day, maybe we can be grateful for the years we have enjoyed, paid for by those whose lives were cut short.

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