That Gitmo Case

[posted by Callimachus]

What is missing?

In the coverage. Or in the commentary? Other than partisan snark, which is present aplenty.

What will Republicans do if they've got no detainees to torture? If the rule of law makes them actually release the 380 Gitmo detainees, what will that mean to Bush's "global war on terror." For that matter, what would Mitt do? He wants to "double Guantanamo." Someone should ask him at tomorrow's Republican debate.

What's missing in all this reportage and commentary?

This.

Six days before he received the wounds that killed him, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer walked into a minefield to rescue two wounded Afghan children, according to fellow soldiers.

He applied a tourniquet to one child and bandaged the other, they said. Then he stopped a passing military truck to take the wounded children to a U.S. Army field hospital.

Speer saved those children, his colleagues said.

That selfless act was among the memories of Speer celebrated on Tuesday as Army soldiers, their families and friends filled the sanctuary of The Village Chapel in Pinehurst for Speer's funeral.

Speer, a Special Forces medic, suffered a head wound during a search of the Ab Khail village in Afghanistan on July 27. He was evacuated to Germany, where he died Aug. 6. He was 28.

On Tuesday, Speer was remembered as a capable and confident soldier with an unflappable sense of humor. When the chips were down, friends said, he could pick up his co-workers with a smile and a laugh.

They remembered him as a loving husband and father who had a sparkle in his eyes whenever he talked about his family.

Survived by Wife, Tabitha, two small children, Taryn and Tanner and brother Todd.

... Before deploying to Afghanistan, Speer wrote notes to his wife, Tabitha, and their two small children, Taryn and Tanner, Jackson said.
"You are always on my mind and forever in my heart."

He wrote a note to his children on a card that had two whispering puppies on the cover, Jackson said. One puppy said to the other, "Do you want to know a secret?"

The card said, "I love you."

Speer then wrote, "It's no secret how much I love you. Take care of each other.

"Love Daddy"

You don't need to tell all that. But to omit even the man's name? Even in Supreme Court cases that wend on for years and wander far from the scene of the crime, it is customary among the same news institutions cited above to name the victim and give a brief description of the crime.