Spc. Michael S. Cote Jr.

That's the name of the soldier who died on Sept. 19th in the chopper crash. The other soldier who died passed away at the hospital in Germany.

We went to the memorial service yesterday afternoon, and that might have been the single most emotionally draining event of my life to date. The memorial services are held in the theater here, and there were probably close to 200 soldiers there. I don't know who they all were, or how they knew Michael and I am not sure they all did know him. I didn't. I think all of the commanders from every unit stationed here at Balad go to the memorial services, so that was quite a few of the people that were in attendance. About 20 people from my unit went. The medics that were at the crash site were there, and then there were a few of us that were there for moral support and to pay respect to a fellow soldier.

Michael S. Cote was born October 9th 1988. He didn't get to see his 21st birthday. He enlisted about two years ago as a helicopter mechanic, and was stationed in Alaska. Whie in Alaska he was given the opportunity to switch companies and become a crewchief on a blackhawk helicopter. Soon after that he was deployed to Iraq, and arrived here in March. He had 291 (I think) flight hours logged, 216 of which were combat hours.

He was married and has a six month old daughter at home. He got to see his daughter for the two weeks that he went home on R&R. That information knocked the wind out of all of us. When the speaker announced that, it sounded like someone had sucker punched Cara in the stomach and Marie looked like she wanted to put her fist through a wall.

They had a slide show of pictures and a few videos of Michael, and he seemed like a really fun guy. That was a common theme amongst the few speeches given. That he was the funny guy that everyone relied on to make them feel better. Soldiers in aviation are in small companies and because of that they naturally become a second family to eachother, and it was very hard to watch the commander and first sergeant talk about their soldier.

Cara silently cried the whole time, and Marie looked like she wanted to break something the whole time. I leaned over at one point and asked Marie how she was doing, and she said "I am so pissed. I don't get mad I just get really pissed." I could have guessed that.

I asked her why she was so pissed, and she said that he was never going to get to see his daughter grown up. Emotionally draining.

When we left the service we all walked to the DFAC to eat, and on the way Cara comes up to me and says "I am not over it. I think people expected me to go this memorial service and that would allow me closure so as to be over the whole thing, and although going helped I am definitely not over it." Due to the situation that we were in I didn't say anything back...there were too many people around. I haven't talked to her since then because of work. I do not like the swing shift. I know she has been talking to the Chaplin, so I am confident that she will come out of all this a better person and it won't inhibit her ability to function in life.


On a lighter note, we were talking about the crash the other morning at about 6 am. We seem to have really intense converstaions at really odd hours...but we got on the subject of how you can't escape your roots. And her being from Arkansas would of course mean that she would run out to the crash site in a cut off t-shirt, basketball shorts, and tennis shoes with no socks. And Marie (also from Arkansas) ran out to the crash site in her boxers and a wife beater with flip flops on. She said it looked like they ran right out of the trailer park.

In this conversation she also talked about her converstaion with the Chaplin. She told me she feels like everyone is being overly-sensitive around her, and when she walks in a room everyone is like 'Cara just walked in everyone pull out your concerned face.' And if she leaves the room everyone jumps all over her and asks too many questions like "where are you going and when are you going to be back?" And if she doesn't return promptely they come looking for her. However, she told the Chaplin that I do not do this to her. When she tells me something like 'I am going the bathroom' I ask her if she wants me to hold her so she doesn't fall in. This is true. I do say stuff like that to her...

Well, I should go back to work.