Tom Sileo by Brothers Forever

Author:Brothers Forever
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780306822384
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

7

THE WAR COMES HOME

Brigadier General Dave Papak had been a close friend of Tom Manion for nearly two decades. Ever since they first served together in the Marine Corps Reserve, they had kept in close touch, no matter where they were stationed. The general’s wife, Kate, was also close to Tom’s wife, Janet.

On April 29, 2007, in New Orleans, where General Papak was commanding the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, the Papaks had already attended a morning church service when the general sat down at his computer to check e-mail over a cup of coffee. His wife was out running a few errands, and before another busy work week began, Papak was looking forward to a relaxing day. Though life in the Big Easy still hadn’t returned to normal less than two years after Hurricane Katrina, it was certainly a beautiful Sunday morning.

After scanning some AOL News headlines, the general logged into his e-mail and did a double-take. A forwarded message was waiting from his boss, three-star Lieutenant General Jack Bergman, which contained the latest list of Marines killed in action in Iraq.

“Is this Tom’s son?” General Bergman, who knew the Papaks and Manions were close, inquired in the e-mail.

A tough military man who had endured his share of difficult moments over the course of a long, distinguished career, Papak, nearly spilling coffee all over his desk, felt genuine fear as his eyes moved down the casualty list.

“MANION, T.,” he read moments later.

After briefly trying to convince himself there could be another “Manion, T.” deployed to Iraq’s Al Anbar province, he accepted that Travis, the young man he had watched mature into a Marine officer, was dead.

Without thinking, Papak picked up the phone next to his computer and began dialing Tom and Janet Manion’s number. Yet just after entering the 215 area code, the general hung up.

After briefly pausing to collect himself, Papak behaved the same way he had as a young helicopter pilot suddenly faced with an emergency. The disciplined Marine let his training override the instincts of human emotion.

Instead of dialing the Manion house, Papak called retired Lieutenant Colonel Corky Gardner, one of his best Marine Corps buddies, who was also very close to Tom. They had been the “three amigos” long before the affectionate nickname was bestowed on Travis, First Lieutenant Chris Kim, and Second Lieutenant Scott Alexander in Iraq.

Lieutenant Colonel Gardner had known Tom’s son since Travis was in the seventh grade. He had watched Travis wrestle in high school, and by sheer coincidence wound up becoming his battalion commander at the Naval Academy.

Gardner often thought about the day that he had initially refused to accept Travis’s resignation as a midshipman, and how happy he was when Travis later decided to reapply. One of his proudest moments, in fact, was attending Travis’s 2004 Naval Academy graduation and watching him become a respected Marine officer.

While Gardner was a recipient of the mass e-mails Travis often sent from Iraq to dozens of relatives and friends, they also e-mailed back and forth personally.

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