Just a Dot.

by Richard Downey

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This is a dot. A period. A single character. Just a dot.

My dot represents Chief Warrant Officer 4 Arthur Laguna. Not a big figure in the stage show that is our world,but a man of substance and honor.

I loved and respected Chief Laguna.

Raised in Rio Linda,California,Art Laguna’s backyard had a commanding view of the runways at McClellan Air Force Base. He and his brothers would,as boys do,play tag and baseball and go to school and get in their parents’ hair.

A good American kid.

Art and his brothers had many bonds,but one that they shared specifically was a love for flying. They would lay in their backyard drinking sodas and razzing each other. That is,they would horseplay and tease until an Air Force B-52 bomber or a KC-135 tanker would roar over their house.. …and they would stop breathing;they would stare bug-eyed at the flying machine that rocked their neighborhood.

The Laguna boys loved flying and everything aviation.

They loved it so much that two of them grew to become military aviators. I say “military”,but the cool thing about the Laguna boys was that they liked airplanes,but LOVED helicopters. Someone once said that “to fly is heavenly,but to hover divine.”

So,the Laguna boys became United States Army warrant officer aviators.

I have a deeply-rooted connection to the Army’s medical aviation community (DUSTOFF) but I didn’t meet DUSTOFF aviator Art Laguna in this capacity. An Army

 

Recruiter stationed in Placerville,California,I met Chief Laguna by way of his daughter.

You see,Art extended to me a trust I can scarcely contemplate;after decades of service to the Army,the Army National Guard and the California Highway Patrol (as a pilot of course);translated,“to his nation and his community”,Art Laguna trusted me and our Army with the future and care of his precious daughter.

A guest in their home many times,I was treated like family in an environment that can sometimes be quite ugly to Soldiers in the recruiting business. I sat at their dinner table and,even after his daughter’s departure for basic training (Christine was to become quite the successful Military Police Soldier and I am beamingly proud of her accomplishments) I continued to be a welcomed guest in the Laguna home.

The Laguna’s home is a classic American mess. Five kids,a flock of dogs and critters;even a “blond boa” that made my skin crawl.  Ewww… snakes.

Art Laguna loved his huge family,his nation,his state as much or more than any man I have ever known.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Art Laguna heeded the call of his nation when he deployed to Iraq as a special operations aviator.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Art Laguna was a dearly loved father,husband,friend,fellow Soldier,fellow Californian.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Art Laguna privileged me with his embracing of me into his heart,his family,his life.

Attending Chief Warrant Officer 4 Art Laguna’s memorial service was,next to my own father’s,by far the most heart-wrenching experience I have ever known. The service’s projected slide show of his life was of family and dogs and…. his love of our Army. So many pictures of Art standing next to a helicopter,or smiling from his seat in the cockpit.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Art Laguna knew the inherent dangers of his profession and he died in hallowed honor exhibiting a kind of courage reserved for but a few.

Well,maybe not so few.

You see,Chief Warrant Officer 4 Art Laguna is MY dot;my period… ….my symbol representing but one of these so brave and honorable men and women that walk and shop and bicycle past and say “hi” to us in our communities.

In the years we have been in Iraq and Afghanistan we have lost a good number of these characters. They are a horrible price to pay for the freedoms and the principles we so dearly protect.

So,I wanted to tell a story of my dot;my one hero of many.

It scares me to think that when we do lose a large number of these American heroes,their sacrifice gets lost in the unrelenting news reports and daily headlines. Every “dot” I am referring to grew up,loved,was loved,went to high school,rode the emotional roller coaster of a first date or boyfriend/girlfriend. Each had a name. Each raised their hand and swore to defend to the death the liberties we sometimes take for granted.

Each of these “dots” made good on that promise. Each gave all that they could. Each lies quietly resting in a hallowed grave having been placed their by loving and grieving families and loved ones.

I hope we never forget each and every “dot.”

I started to write something about “is one of the following ‘your’ hero? Your dot?” Truth is,they’re ALL our heroes. They are each and everyone our “dots.”

As we approach Memorial Day,I hope you take a moment to not only remember your loved ones that have made the ultimate sacrifice but I also hope you reflect on OUR collective loved ones that have made this sacrifice. They made it for ‘us’. Don’t forget it.

Much love and my best salute Chief Laguna. I’m proud to have been in the same Army.

The following is a total of 5,885 dots representing ONLY the current Global War On Terrorism. This number PALES in comparison to all who have served and died for this nation in the last 225 years. They are ALL,each and every one,ours to remember:

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