Drumming, vibrance defined
lost soldier's life, character
I wrote this column to honor a
good friend of mine: 21-year-old
Travis Bradach-Nall of Portland, a
U.S. Marine who died in Iraq
July 1,2003.
When I first sat down at the com
puter to compose a symphony of
words that would flow together in
perfect harmony and tell the world
who Travis was, I found myself at a
loss. It took me a long time to realize
why: Travis' story can't be told
through a symphony. It can, however,
be told through a drum line.
Travis had a passion for drums,
which in turn led to his involvement
with the high school drum line.
Within a drum line there are many
people playing different drums to cre
ate a rhythm, including the underly
ing thump of the base drum, the fill
ing pulse of the tom-tom drum and
the driving beat of the snare drum.
Those three drums not only helped
create the music in football games
and parades; they also created the
music ofTravis's life.
The base drum, steady and strong,
is representative of Travis's love for
life. Whether he showed it by blowing
up firecrackers at 4 a m. or by giving
bear hugs to his friends, the constant
beat ofTravis's heart will always re
Ali Shaughnessy
Blond on blonde
mind me to love life the way he did.
It was because of his big heart that
Travis chose to stay in Iraq — Travis
had the opportunity to return home
after major combat ended May 1. His
love and compassion compelled him
to remain in a foreign country and
help protect the Iraqi citizens. It also
compelled him to volunteer for one
of the most dangerous missions: land
mine excavation.
Travis's life was also filled with
hundreds of stories, the same way a
tom-tom will fill a drum line with
hundreds of notes. Some of the sto
ries are funny, some nostalgic. But
each one gives Travis's life a little
more "oomph."
Even though I only knew Travis for
six years, he filled my life with more
memorable moments than 1 know
how to describe. One of my favorite
Travis moments was when he showed
up to his senior prom in his shorts,
tank top and Hawaiian shirt. He de
cided it was poindess to rent a tuxedo,
so he went as himself and had more
fun than I thought possible. Another
time, he came running into our choir
class and yelled at the top of his lungs,
"I got a tattoo!"
Many drum lines have more than
one snare drum, just as Travis had
more than one driving force. He was
driven by his family, by the Marines,
by his love for drumming and by his
love for tattoos.
It isn’t until the three different
drums of Travis's life are brought to
gether that a true beat for him
emerges. That beat shows Travis to be
kind and compassionate, mischie
vous and creative, brave and noble.
But above all, the beat that played in
Travis's life was a beat of love.
In the six years that I knew Travis,
the most important lesson he taught
me was to smile. To smile at life, to
embrace it and to love it. And so,
Travis, as I finish this column there's
one thing 1 want you to know:
I'm smiling.
Ali Shaughnessy is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald. Her opinions
do not necessarily represent those
of the Emerald.
Even if U.S. administration lied,
America still freed Iraqi populace
I ve been breaking my anti-con
sumerist ethics as of late with all the
tissue I've been using, drying my
tears for the crushing defeat of Sad
dam Hussein. I lay awake at night
staring at
the glow-in
the-dark
dots that
the former
tenant of
my apartment painted on the ceil
ing, asking why our president had to
overthrow a sovereign foreign gov
ernment that posed no threat to the
United States.
GUEST
COMMENTARY
Sure, Hussein ran a brutal dicta
torship, committed acts of genocide
on numerous occasions, invaded an
other country, brutally crushed a few
revolts, buried people in mass graves
and suppressed bread crumb free
doms — oh, 1 mean civil liberties —
but he didn't deserve to be over
thrown by the imperialist beast.
The people were perfectly capable
of carrying out a successful revolt
against him, without U.S. interven
tion. OK, you got me, that's bogus.
If the people of Iraq would have
risen up, they would have been
stomped in the ground and buried
in mass graves. What if they suc
ceeded? Total chaos may have erupt
ed — with Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites
all possibly waging a bloody civil
war to gain power and settle old
scores — and possibly more may
have died in that uprising than Op
eration Iraqi Freedom.
Another reason I'm saddened by
the war is the loss of American
lives: 220 dead so far, according to
the U.S. Department of Defense.
Sure, it's probably the same per
centage who would have died to car
accidents, gun shots or various oth
er non-combat deaths if they were
here at home, but they should be
dying here, not there. As for Iraqi
deaths, an equal or greater number
may have been killed in an Iraqi
uprising against Saddam, but
I'd prefer they die in the glory
of revolution.
But to break from sarcasm, let's
go with a worst-case scenario and
say that Bush and the rest of the ad
ministration lied, used bogus intel
ligence and waged an imperialist
oil war. Fewer Iraqis died than if
there were a real revolt against Hus
sein, fewer or the same number of
soldiers would be dying if they were
average civilians in the U.S. popu
lation, and a brutal — if not dead
— dictator is at least ousted. Iraqi
citizens no longer have to be
ground under Hussein's heel (al
though they have a foreign army
occupying their country, which is
an issue for next time). Boo hoo, let
me get a tissue.
Lucas Szabo is a junior majoring
in political science.
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ANTH 310: Exploring Other Cultures: Anthropology of Politics and
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Eugene Public Library
Tykeson Room - 100 West 10th Ave.
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
6:00 to 7:30 pm
Join Peace Corps recruiter Michael Kim at an evening
information session to learn yvhat Peace Corps is doing
around the world and find out how you may qualify
for one of the many volunteer assignments just waiting
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Peace Corps will also have an information table on
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