David Halbestam

It is never a good time to die.  I know.  I have come close more than once.  It was not on my to-do list on those day I came close to the "big sleep."  Let's see, I need soda pop, some windshield wiper fluid, some bread, and oh yeh, I will be dying later too.  No, that is not how it works.  

I am sure David Halberstam did not set out the other morning to die in a car crash later that day.  But, it is poetic that the man that wrote The Best and the Brightest (1972) andThe Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era (1965) died in the midst of a battle between President George Bush and Congress over funding the continuation of the Iraq War.  Both of Halberstam's books dissect the construct of the Vietnam War. In a nutshell Halberstam tries to figure out how so many smart people got us into such a mess of a war.  It is also noteworthy to mention he wrote them while the American Vietnam War was happening - one book at the beginning and one near the end.   

It is almost like some fate fairy of sorts is trying to say, "hey, people check out this guy's analysis of a war we had 40 years ago- a now similar war in construct and debate to the one we have now."  The books have always been out there.  I wonder now in his death if any one will read them and bristle at the disturbing similarities on the construct of the two wars?  I fear no one will notice the poetic irony of the timing of Halberstam's death. 

This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Sgt. 1st Class Dan H. Gabrielson, 40, of Frederic.  He spent 22 years in the Army Reserve.  Gabrielson was a specialist in repairing construction equipment for the Army Reserve's 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth.  He  worked as a mechanic and machinist in the unit's motor pool and was in charge of keeping the bridge building equipment working under very difficult conditions.  Sgt. Gabrielson was the third Wisconsin serviceman to die in Iraq and the first reservist from the state killed there.  Gabrielson had taken over the role of platoon sergeant for his unit and was studying to become a warrant officer.  He was promoted from staff sergeant to Sergeant 1st class after his bridge building unit was sent to Iraq.  Sergent Gabrielson was killed on July 9, 2003, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy near Baqouba, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.

3,333 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

71 Wisconsin Soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003. 

Soldier of the week and military casualty information sources: cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.