By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
A U.S. Marine Corps carry team transfers the remains of Marine Lance Cpl. Dominic J. Ciaramitaro, of South Lyon, Mich., at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (Air Force photo by Roland Balik)
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – The barrel-chested young Marine walked from the baggage carousel last month at Ramstein Air Base’s passenger terminal, his massive camouflage backpack nearly dwarfing his muscular frame.
It had been a long trip from Afghanistan, it was clear, his eyes conveying his fatigue. Another long flight lay ahead to the United States.
“Finishing your deployment, or going home for R&R?” I asked. Neither, he replied, shaking his head. “I’m escorting a buddy home.”
Ramstein is the hub where wounded warriors from Afghanistan fly into to receive advanced medical care at nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. They’re stabilized there before continuing their journey home, to receive longer-term care in the States.
Many of the patients who arrive at Landstuhl are very, very fragile, and the staff there ensures they’re stable before allowing them to fly to their follow-on treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., or Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
“Which hospital are you taking him to?” I asked the Marine.
None, he replied, shaking his head again. “I’m taking him to Michigan.”
I stood with him, processing what he had said as understanding settled in.
“He wasn’t killed, was he?” I asked softly, already knowing the truth. He nodded sadly, and my arms instinctively flung around him as I struggled for words to convey how very sorry I was.
The Marine stood solidly, accepting my embrace without recoiling, and we shared a private moment of grief within the cavernous air terminal.
“It happens,” he said flatly.
The next day, the Defense Department released the casualty information.
The Marine – whose name I will never know – was taking Marine Lance Cpl. Dominic J. Ciaramitaro home to South Lyon, Mich. Ciamamitaro and another Marine, Sgt. Sean T. Callahan were killed April 23 during an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. They were members of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
This Memorial Day, I send my thoughts and prayers to Ciaramitaro’s family, and to that unnamed Marine who conducted the sad, solemn duty of escorting him home.
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