It is with profound grief that I report to you the death of Lance Corporal Andrew W. Nowacki, Truck Platoon, H&S Company, 2nd Bn, 24th Marines, United States Marine Corps. LCpl Nowacki was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated on his motorized patrol while he was operating as a machine gunner in the turret of an up-armored security high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle. LCpl Nowacki was immediately secured by his platoon mates and air-medevaced to the Combat Surgical Hospital in Baghdad where he was pronounced dead.
LCpl Nowacki was a crushing loss for this Battalion. A crushing loss for the fact that he had joined the ranks of our fallen heroes, and for the impact he had on his fellow Marines. As I attended the memorial service, I was overwhelmed by the words spoken by his closest friends and fellow Marines during the teammate remembrances portion of the ceremony. All of them spoke of his unbelievable spirit. They spoke of his ability to never be down, no matter what the circumstances. They spoke of his always smiling, always laughing and always being the one that everyone else leaned on when the going was rough or uncomfortable. They simply made it clear that he was the rock upon which so many drew their strength. Such men are the leaders around which other men find steadiness and courage in dark times.
Now, one of the unfortunate parts of being the Battalion Commander of over 1,100 of the World's finest warriors, is that you just do not get the chance to know all of them in personal ways. You know all of them by face and name, and usually some glowing characteristic about them, but to understand them all at a deep level is just not an option. LCpl Nowacki was just such a Marine for me. However, on the day he achieved authorized entrance at his new post in Heaven, something happened that I shall never forget, so long as air fills my lungs, a song fills my heart, and thoughts of thanks fill my head for having been so lucky and honored to have shared the earth with such MEN as LCpl Nowacki.
To understand what it was that happened on his last day of earthly existence, I have to paint a bit of background, so bear with me. Now, Marines by nature are a cocky bunch; that is one of the things that makes them run to the sound of gunfire when everyone else is running away from it. And, part of being cocky is being "macho" in your bearing. In my numerous travels about the AO, I am always asking the Marines why they never wave at each other. I mean, when we pass one of our many checkpoints, where the Marines on duty are doing deadly work, living hard and suffering great discomfort, I fail to understand why their fellow Marines fail to give them a quick wave or a thumbs up. But, you should see them. As the sentry at a checkpoint waves a patrol of vehicles through, the ritual of "I am badder than you are" begins. Each Marine stares the other one down through any number of brand names of ballistic goggles and covered in pounds of armor and high tech killing gear. As they come abreast of each other, the tolerant scorns are exchanged and no words spoken. It is as if each one is trying to communicate to the other via telepathy the same message: "you wussy, you don't have it half as bad as I do." Now, when they actually are around each other and not on some combat duty, well, then it is high fives and hugs and banter and jokes! But, on duty, the ritual seems rigid, inflexible and a violation of some unwritten code if it is broken.
So, back to the day when a piece of my heart was broken and part of my soul was crushed forever, Feb 26. The day that will always be remembered and honored in the Smith household as the day LCpl Nowacki departed gate 3 at FOB St. Michael, and later that day met St. Michael face to glorious face. On this day, we were scheduled to take the leadership of the unit that will replace us on a tour of the Mayhem AO. Now, we have our procedures down to a science, but as can be expected, when joining units unfamiliar to our ways, some confusion reigns. The confusion on this day led to some delays in our departure and a shifting of the "timeline." Any time the "timeline" shifts, Mayhem 6 becomes a not so nice person to be around. So, our vehicles were staged, our Warriors armored, locked and loaded and waiting for departure. This of course meant, the ritual of the "game face" was underway. I was standing next to my vehicle monitoring the radios and waiting for the final elements to fall in place when a second motorized patrol began to make movement passed our staged vehicles. By the combination of armored HMMWVs and 7 Ton trucks, I knew instantly it was "Heavy Roller" (the tireless Marines of Truck Platoon and Marines from H&S who move about the AO daily in support of hundreds of tasks supporting the Battalion, and who does so with their own skilled and self-provided security that has engaged many a Muj with the skill and precision of any of my infantry elements). And, at the head of the column was a Marine standing behind his machine gun in the turret, with the largest smile on his face you had ever seen, and waving. Waving at every one of our vehicles that he passed at 5 mph as they followed their ground guide to the dismount point. I watched this and knew this was a Marine with a special heart! He was dispensing with the ritual. He had no need for pretention, no need for "badness." He was a Marine "comfortable in his own skin," as it were, and among those he loved. Something struck me as I was watching this Marine wave: he was living every day as if it might be his last, and he did not want to leave any unfinished business. You see, when we think of waving, we assume it is to say hello. But in this case, he was also waving goodbye, for the Marine who struck me on this day was Lance Corporal Andrew W. Nowacki. And hours later he would be dead...but no doubt, born again to new life.
In eulogizing their beloved brother, LCpl Nowacki's platoon mates reiterated the theme that he was ALWAYS the one that every one else clung to when they were at their worst, because he was always at his best. He was always joking, always laughing, always smiling. He was described as "the most unprofessional professional Marine" they had ever known. Far from being oxymoronic, to all Marines, that is the description of the Warrior upon whom so many have leaned on since the Corps was established. All Marines and Veteran Marines reading this will instantly know what I am talking about and will remember a Marine from their platoon who had the same quality and spirit of life as LCpl Nowacki.
As this week has gone on, as all weeks do, and I thought about how I would speak about LCpl Nowacki's death, I received news both here and from home of several children's births. That is always a cause for celebration. But what I really was thinking was: I wonder; I wonder how many of these parents who have just received the greatest gift God has to offer will teach them? Will they teach them of the deeds of men like LCpl Nowacki? Will they teach them that life is precious, and freedom it's greatest gift and deepest desire of mankind? Will they teach them to be prepared to either repel the evil doer or support those who do? I wonder? For I know one thing, 12 times every year, from here on out to my final rest, my wife, my daughters and I will stop on the 12 dates that some of the finest men the planet has ever known breathed their last, and we will say "thank you."
We will say thank you by name. We will say thank you by name and we will light a candle. We will say thank you by name, we will light a candle and we will pray for our fallen heroes and their familes. Then, we will reflect on our lives. Our grand and wonderful lives lived free, and we will remember. We will remember that no matter how distasteful, no matter how much the mind does not want to believe it and no matter how much the body rejects it, freedom has a very great cost! And that that cost is borne by young Warriors from generation to generation. We will remember, and we will say thank you again!
So, in closing, my heart has 12 breaks and my soul 12 cuts, and time will not heal them. God willing I will return home and I WILL be the same man I was for my wife and my daughters, as I believe we all will be. No, scratch that, we will be better men for the lessons we learned from those 12 breaks and those 12 cuts. And, on the day of my death, should the Lord be willing and I make it home, I know exactly what I am going to do when I see Lance Corporal Andrew W. Nowacki. When I see him...I am going to wave! I am going to wave at him and then I am going to salute him.
LCpl Nowacki: you waved that final fateful day, and I truly believe you were saying both hello and goodbye. So tonight, and in this letter, on behalf of all the Mad Ghosts, upon whom you had such an impact and have left such a hole: goodbye sweet Warrior! May the light of Jesus surround you, may the touch of his hand heal you and may you never know another tear, for ours flow freely for loss of you!
May God Bless and be with the Nowacki Family in this time. The Mad Ghosts are here for you.
May God Bless and Keep the Magnificent Families of 2/24.
Mark
"For those who, in a dark and terrifying hour, saw what needed to be done- and did it." - Lynne Jonell, Bravemole