Farewell to an American Hero: "The price is worth it, in my heart."

Iraq Forum

By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
Knight Ridder Newspapers


FORT BENNING, Ga. - Family, friends and Army buddies of Sgt. 1st Class David J. Salie, a 34-year-old soldier from nearby Columbus, Ga., who was killed on Valentine's Day - his fourth day of duty in Iraq - said a final farewell to him Wednesday.

I was with them. Salie was a friend.

The old Infantry Post Chapel was filled with mourners. The commander of Fort Benning and the Infantry School, Brig. Gen. Ben Freakley, led the official party from the post and from Salie's unit, Bravo Company, 2/69 Armor, 3rd Infantry Division.

Before the funeral, Freakley gave Salie's widow, Deanna, posthumous awards of the Bronze Star, a second award of the Combat Infantry Badge and a Purple Heart that her husband had earned.

Salie had previous combat tours in Panama, the Persian Gulf War and Haiti. I met him in 1995 in the town of Mirabalais in Haiti. He was a lanky specialist fourth class in the 25th Infantry Division. I was a reporter with a Special Forces A team that was working with Salie's battalion.

We sat talking as we waited for commanders to begin a patrol in the highlands.

Salie told me a story. He jumped into Panama with the 82nd Airborne. His company was assigned to cover a street between two intersections that had American checkpoints.

A car came through a checkpoint and speeded up. No one got the word that it had been cleared. The whole company opened fire.

Salie could see the faces. A couple, rushing their daughter to a hospital to give birth. He yelled for the soldiers to cease fire, but it was too late.

It made him think long and hard about continuing to serve. In the end, he decided the right thing to do would be to stay in the Army so he eventually could teach soldiers how to avoid such deadly mistakes.

In Iraq, Salie's commander said that when he briefed about a difficult mission, he looked at Salie to see what the platoon sergeant thought. Salie's response was always, "I'm in."

In a farewell tape he left for his family to be viewed in case of his death, he told them that the mission in Iraq was one that was left unfinished in 1991, and that the people of Iraq deserved the same freedoms his family had. He said, "The price is worth it, in my heart."

At his memorial service, family members and fellow soldiers told stories celebrating the 6-foot-5 Salie's sense of humor, love of his children and love of soldiering. As they talked, the Salies' youngest son, Hunter, age 2, lay on the floor at the end of the front pew, looking up at the flag-covered coffin of his father.

Salie also had a daughter, Hailey, 12, by a previous marriage; Deanna's daughter, Chyna, 11, from a previous marriage, whom David Salie adopted; and Luke, 6.

Salie's casket was escorted home by his brother, Army Capt. Brian Salie, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, who's serving a combat tour in Iraq as well.

After a volley of gun salutes outside the chapel and the mournful sound of taps, an honor guard of sergeants folded the flag. Usually, Freakley presents the flag to the widow or mother. This time he handed that duty to Brian Salie, who carried the flag to Deanna Salie and handed it to her, thanking her on behalf of the president.

It was his last and most painful duty to the older brother "who was my hero all my life, and now he is an American hero as well."

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God bless him, the thousands of dead and wounded, and those casualties to come.

-HECK!

WASHINGTON - All of America should join me in mourning the death Monday of Sgt. 1st Class David J. Salie. Sgt. Salie was killed on Valentine's Day on a mean street in the Iraqi city of Baqouba, and I'm grieving the loss of my friend along with his wife, Deanna, and their three children.


I met David Salie in 1995 in the town of Mirabalais in Haiti. He was a tall, lanky, three-stripe buck sergeant. His battalion had been sent up from Port au Prince, the capital, to do some patrolling with the Special Forces A Team that I was reporting on.


He sat down on the curb beside me and asked me what I, a civilian of advanced years, was doing in such a place. I explained that I was a reporter who covered military affairs and gave him my name. He had read my book on the Vietnam War, and he did a double take.


We sat and talked for half an hour, waiting for the commanders to get it together for a patrol into the voodoo highlands.


David told me about his jump into Panama with the 82nd Airborne Division. His company was assigned to cover a city street between two intersections that had American checkpoints on them.


A car came through one of the checkpoints, then speeded up. The troops didn't get the word that the soldiers at the checkpoint had cleared it. Someone fired the first shot, David said, then the whole company opened fire on the car.


"I could see the faces of those people in the car as the bullets began ripping it apart," David said. "I was yelling cease fire! Cease fire! But it was too late. The firepower of an entire company shot those people to pieces. They were an older couple, mother and father, rushing their pregnant daughter to the hospital to give birth to a child."


David said he'd thought long and hard after that incident, asking himself if he could continue to serve in the Army. In the end, he decided that the right thing to do was to stay in the Army and work his way up the ranks so he could train soldiers, teaching them how to avoid such costly mistakes.


He was earnest, straightforward and sincere. He remained in our Army for all the right reasons.


Now and then, out of the blue, I would receive an e-mail from Salie as he and his wife and then his kids were transferred from one Army post to another. He rose to buck sergeant, then staff sergeant and most recently sergeant first class.


His last e-mail came around Christmas. He'd lost my address, and his wife, Deanna, or Deedy, scouted around on the Internet and found it for him. He said he was on his way to a year's deployment in Iraq and wanted to let me know that.


David was in B Company, 2nd of the 69th Armor, 3rd Infantry Division. He was 34 years old - an Army brat born in Columbus, Ga., the home of Fort Benning and the home of the infantry. He grew up in Columbus and at posts all over America and the world.


Last Thursday, Feb. 10, David and his unit entered Iraq and headed for Baqouba to relieve another Army unit that had served in combat for a year.


On Monday, Feb. 14, he and others of 2/69 Armor were being given a familiarization ride around the city. David was in the backseat of a Humvee, fourth in line in the small convoy. Someone detonated an IED - an improvised explosive device - just as the fourth Humvee came along. David took the brunt of the explosion and was killed instantly. The sergeant in the front right seat was badly injured, but survived.


His wife told me that David had a premonition of his death, that he told her two months ago he felt that he would not be coming home alive.


Deanna said, "We spent eight and a half beautiful years together. He was and will always be the love of my life. To be honest with you, I don't know how I will live without him. I don't know how to do that. How do you live when the very thing that makes your heart beat and makes you lungs take in air is gone? I don't know how. I wish someone could tell me that."


They had three children, Chyna, 11, Deanna's child from a previous marriage whom David adopted, Luke, 6, and Hunter, 2. David carried a photo of the three of them and said: "That's what I am fighting for."


There will be a memorial service for Sgt. 1st Class David J. Salie at Fort Benning on Tuesday and a funeral in Columbus on Wednesday.


He was the best of the best that our country has to offer. All America should mourn his loss.


—_JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY