Paul and Rosemary saw the grim faces on the men at their door
and they knew. They stood motionless as one of the Marines
began to speak. "We regret to inform you that Edward
August Schroeder II . . ." And they knew.
Two weeks ago,
Augie had called home from Iraq after spending 26 days in the
field. They had not heard from him for five weeks, and their
son's voice seemed to reflect a change in his convictions
about this war. "When he first arrived in Iraq in March,
he was full of optimism about what his good intentions could
accomplish," Paul said. But Augie's enthusiasm eroded over
time, and his father said he will never forget what his son
told him. "The closer we are to departure, the less 'worth it'
this has become," Augie said.
In a way, Paul was
heartened by his son's words. "When you first get there, you
think everything's hunky-dory," he said. "But after four
operations, the insurgents were still there. He didn't think
they were having any effect. I heard him and thought, 'Well,
the bloom is off the rose.' I was opposed to this war before
it even started, and my son is a sharp kid." He caught
himself. "Was," he said, as he started to sob. "My son
was a sharp kid. "Oh, Jesus."
Augie was 23 years
old. He was six weeks from coming home. While we don't yet
have exact numbers, we now know that Ohio has lost about 80
soldiers and Marines to the Iraq war. And there is no end in
sight. That haunts Paul Schroeder. In the first hours after he
learned that his son was dead, Paul wrote a short statement.
"I hope people
forgive me for what I have to say," he began. "I just don't
care anymore." He listed who he blamed for Augie's death.
"I
hold the Bush administration responsible, from the president
through the secretaries of state and defense and all those who
have had a hand in starting this war. I also hold every
Democrat in Congress who voted to authorize this misadventure
as accomplices." His son, he wrote, "died doing his
duty. So have some 1,800 other Americans. "Augie did his duty
at every turn, from being an emergency medical technician
while still in high school, a lifeguard, a Boy Scout, an
active church member, and, of course, as a Marine. For all
this, we consider him a hero. "To honor him, I no longer can
sit still, just keeping quiet and being politically correct."
In her own way,
Augie's mother also issued a statement. She made the call at
8:18 Wednesday morning, about two hours before she learned
that Augie was dead. Rosemary had sobbed the day Augie
enlisted. She had begged him not to go to Iraq. On Wednesday,
hers was the desperate plea of a mother trying to find out if
her son was still alive. She left this phone message for Plain
Dealer reporter Brian Albrecht, who has steadfastly chronicled
the war's impact here: "This is Rosemary Palmer," she said.
"I'm the mother of one of the many Marines who are deployed
right now. My son is currently in Haditha and we just heard
the news story this morning that 14 Marines in Haditha were
killed. "We are all obviously going nuts . . . I know you
can't give out the names of people who haven't been notified,
but if you have those names of the ones who have died, if you
could let us know as soon as possible, I would really
appreciate it - because we die along with these kids . . ."
Her voice broke. She recited her number. Then she hung up the
phone. ---- Written By Connie Schultz, Plain Dealer
Columnist
