Chaplain’s Corner
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Chaplain Bill Karabinos
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Chaplain's Corner
Mount Up!
Pack your saddle bags, mark the route on your map and get on your horse. You are
a Blackhorse Trooper on a mission.
New year, new challenge, new attractions to see, new adventures to begin … and a
chance to relive memories of days gone by. Begin with your regiment, the 11th
Armored Cavalry. Begin with your unit and time in country. Remember that guy
“who was my buddy over there.”
Then drive your wife and kids crazy by telling them we are going to look for a
grave. Or, if they are not interested, go alone.
Every year Blackhorse troopers and many with family members come to Washington
to visit memorial sites and yes, the graves of our brothers who bled out in
Southeast Asia; or who have succumbed recently, since their return from Vietnam,
now wore down by age and their continuing effort to make this world a better
place for their family, their friends, their community, their country. They come
to The Wall on Memorial Day and Veterans Day in respect for their Blackhorse
brothers. Or to reminisce with men they served with, trained with, fought with:
their compeers of the regiment … their band of brothers. You come because you
remember and appreciate those lads (as we were then) who sacrificed, some with
their blood in the Nam, but all with their sweat, their jabber, their shared
agony, their care for one another in a distant land far away.
Some of you have come to the Tomb of the Unknown in a winter blizzard and stood
on frozen and ever cold marble to honor our entire regiment, and its cadre
multiplied by 120 years. You come because you are still a living part of that
Legend. We don’t cry as much as laugh, because we all face the same fate; we
will all someday be lying in a tomb or grave. We are realists who honor by our
presence our fallen brothers; in the hope that someday, one of us, or our
children, or children’s children, will come at some future date to pay us homage
… and to say or think a prayer. Remember Yogi Berra once said; “If you don’t go
to their funeral, they won’t come to yours.”
We all want to believe that “life doesn’t end, but merely changes,” and as we
were together in Vietnam or some other foreign turf, we will be together again,
in heaven or on Fiddlers Green, or floating above the void. It is what we
believe, what we hope. You come out of respect and because your DNA is stamped
“Patriot.” You wore the uniform, you stepped up to the plate, you stood tall,
and you all want to be “buried with soldiers, for I miss their company … bury me
with men like them, till someone else does more.”
So, I am not kidding. Make plans this year to travel to at least one cemetery. I
don’t mean your final trip, though it may be a warmup. I used to laugh listening
to some eulogies, about how good a Christian the corpse had been, and thought:
“yes, he went to church twice in his life, and both times had to be carried in.”
Of course, that was too judgmental, that wasn’t my call, it was God’s place to
render the verdict. Nonetheless, I was there out of respect.
Out of respect, why not go and visit the grave of one of our KIA’s; maybe a lad
you served with, or a lad from your Troop or Battery. Maybe a name picked at
random or a Blackhorse Trooper who lived close by, or near a place you are
traveling to. You can find one of our troopers’ graves usually within 100 miles
of your home, or of your vacation destination. If you look on our web site
(11thcavnam.com) you can find a listing of all our KIA’s, as well as a listing
of over 9,000 of our troopers who have passed since they returned stateside. You
can also find a listing of national cemeteries and military post cemeteries
where they are buried. In fact, for so many of our lads, you can maybe find the
name of the church yard, community or private cemetery memorial garden, or state
veteran cemetery, where our brothers are buried. If you can’t and are looking
for one in any location or by any name, call us; we will help you.
Allen Hathaway, Director, Operation Embrace has compiled an extensive list.
Allen, and any of the Board Members are more than willing to help, so too, is
this chaplain. Call us or email us: we are all listed on the second page of each
Thunder Run.
As an example, we lost Captain Clark in late February, of 1972. He was the G
Troop Commander and preparing his Troop for the final march from the field to
base camp at Phu Loi. The 2nd Squadron was ordered to stand down and was going
home. It did clear out by the 27th of March. But the enemy wasn’t ready to let
us ride out quietly, so he led a patrol to successfully suppress their
harassment den and died as a result of sniper fire. He was one of the last men
to die as a result of enemy ground contact with the regiment in Vietnam. Captain
Clark was from Florida but is buried at the Fort McClellan Post Cemetery. I owe
him a visit. I haven’t talked to him since he was medevac’d out 52 years ago,
and I owe him a prayer and blessing in Alabama.
Do me a favor. Go. Go visit the grave site of one of our KIAs or one of our
Blackhorse troopers who have passed away in the past few years. Take a picture
of the headstone or marker, maybe a picture with you at his marker. Send it
along to me, or Allen, or Pete Walter or to any officer. We can match it up or
even print it in Thunder Run, and if we get so many, display or talk about them
at the reunion. But also note the condition of the gravestone, see that it is
properly cared for, in good condition. If not, do something about it. Talk to
the caretaker, or let us know, we want that site to remain a well-preserved
National Treasure, to remain a bright and shiny memorial to a true patriot. It
is your DNA duty assignment; you are still and ever will be a Blackhorse
Trooper.
Chaplain Blandin “Bill” Karabinos