Army Captain’s Death Hits Small Town Hard
I first learned about the death of Capt. Mark Garner on the sign of a local restaurant in Elkin North Carolina as I drove past last night. The flags at the hotel and all the other businesses fly at half-mast. At one of the local banks the officers spoke about how Capt. Garner’s mother teaches in the Elkin school district, and how Capt. Garner’s dream was to serve in the military. The West Point graduate achieved his dream – a dream cut short when his vehicle was hit by an IED in Afghanistan.
There is a heavy feeling in the air that as an outsider I sense yet cannot explain. It’s a feeling of sacrifice and faith that the sacrifice was worth it. One bank officer seemed mystified. “Why don’t we leave and let them get back to killing each other,” she said, expressing a sentiment that has been all too common since 9-11. How could I respond to the death of the boy that their children played with or who they cheered on at sporting events an all-too short time ago? How can an abstraction like the global war on terror compete with a flag-covered coffin returning home?
9-11 has become an abstraction in itself as it fades in time. And that’s the problem – because the death of Capt. Garner is directly tied to the deaths of 4,000 on that holy day. Were it not for men like Capt. Garner, that event would not be an abstraction – it would be a reality.
But such statements mean nothing at a time like this. The town of Elkin North Carolina mourns one of its own, and deserves my respect and yes, my silence.
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