Not Another Lechner Accolade

On The Janesville Gazette's Friday, April 27 front page was yet another story about Johnny Lechner, UW-Whitewater's perennial college student.  It is not Lechner that concerns me.  As an older college student, I worked in UW-Whitewater's Adult Resource Center for a couple years.  There we tried to help older returning college students.  Many of them were back to re-tool for the third time - some not so much older than Lechner.  Many had children, jobs, elderly parents, and downsizing jobs to contend with while going back to college.  Many were veterans - some combat veterans.  Many had more combined years in college and credits than Lechner.  Lechner's years and credits are something the media always lauds over.  The other older students presented a tapestry of fascinating stories and challenges, yet it is always Lechner the media drags out as an aberration.

 If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now, I might have stayed in college too for ten years after high school.  But Lechner and I are not the heroes.  So I say shame on the media yet again for perpetuating one man's shameless narcissism.  The real stories of academic heroes go untold as they fend for themselves and languish in obscurity.  Of course, the real heroes don't have PR machines either.

This weeks soldier to remember is Specialist Paul J. Sturino, 21 of Rice Lake who died on September 22, 2003 from a non-hostile gunshot wound.  He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and was in an area south of Mosul in northern Iraq.  He was in Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 320 Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.  Sturino was the fourth Wisconsinite killed during military operations in Iraq.  Originally with a tank detail based in Lawton, Oklahoma, Paul transferred to the 101st Airborne in Fort Campbell, Kentucky to be a paratrooper.  He went to Iraq in March 2003.  Sturino had re-enlisted for another year as a member of the 101st but his tour of duty was subsequently extended because of the war.

3,351 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.

24,912 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring 2003.

72 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.