I saw this moving quote from a Walt Whitman poem , The Wound Dresser, on the wall of the north entrance to the Dupont Circle Metro Station in DC today:

Thus in silence in dreams' projections,

Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals,

The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand,

I sit by the restless all the dark night, some are so young,

Some suffer so much, I recall the experience sweet and sad, ...

The poem spoke to me powerfully because I've been struggling since Memorial Day to find words to define or convey something of what I felt and experienced during the long days and nights spent during the month of May with my father at Walter Reed.

Being there for my dad in a place and at a time when many young men and women were brought to the ICU gravely injured (six from Iraq one night), watching most of them "graduate" to the wards, seeing their predecessors farther along in their recovery moving confidently around the hospital with new prostheses/high tech wheel chairs, babies in laps, wives/husbands by their side, sharing a quiet moment of concern or hug with a soldier's parents, wife, brother, sister.

It was a layered emotional experience ... desperate hope for recovery, palpable pride in service and sacrifice, and what seemed to be uniformly high morale in the face of very difficult challenges.

And, my bedside vigil paled in comparison to the four year (and counting) investment in recovery made by one soldier's parents or to the sacrifice and commitment offered by the capable caregivers called up to serve from their "other lives" ... reservists who hadn't expected to have to set aside their families and practices, leave sheet covered furniture behind in empty homes .. to spend months on end filling in, without complaint, the gaps in the military's medical staff . A staff stretched beyond capacity by the critical care needs of young soldiers (and sailors and Marines) wounded in conflicts difficult to explain or comprehend.

"I recall the experience sweet and sad..."

Death of a Retired General Officer

This message went out from General George General W. Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, today:

DEATH OF A RETIRED GENERAL OFFICER 17 JUN 09. "It is with deep regret that the Secretary of the Army and I inform you of the death of General John R. Guthrie, United States Army, Retired. He passed away on 25 May 2009 in Washington, DC. As a mark of respect to the memory of General John R. Guthrie, the national flag will be flown at half-staff at all installations, activities, and vessels of the Department of the Army in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its territories and possessions, from reveille to retreat on the day of interment 30 June 2009."

I am so very proud and grateful that the Army my father served and loved for more than 39 years has accorded him this amazing honor. His example of people centered leadership (in partnership with my mother for almost 58 years) will continue to guide and inspire me for the rest of my life as it has to this day.

Senator John Ensign

I am more than tired of sanctimonious holier than thou politicians who undermine "traditional marriage" by their own actions while denying full marriage equality to those who only want the chance to make the deep and lasting commitment that these folks seem unable to keep.

General John R. Guthrie (USA Ret.) -- 39 Years in the Nation's Service

General John Reiley Guthrie (USA Ret.), died peacefully at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Memorial Day, May 25, 2009, with his loving family at his bedside. He was 87.

Born in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Gen. Guthrie graduated with honors in History from Princeton University in 1942, receiving his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant out of Princeton’s ROTC program, ultimately becoming the program's first four star general. Gen. Guthrie served in the War Department General Staff during World War II, after which he was stationed in London, England, where he met his wife of 58 years, Rebecca Jeffers Guthrie, who died on April 11, 2005. In June 1951, he was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division Artillery in the Korean War. During this period, he participated in operations against guerrillas in the Wonson area, the evacuation from Hungnam, the reoccupation of Seoul, the spring Chinese offensive and United Nations counteroffensive.

Among his duties and accomplishments in his 39-year Army career, he was the Army Staff project officer for the launching of the United States' first artificial earth satellite, Explorer I, was Chief of Staff of the 25th Infantry Division, Assistant Commanding General of the 2nd Division, Commanding General of U.S. Army Japan, and finally, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Material Command (AMC), from which he retired in 1981. His command at AMC included a workforce of over 116,000, and was responsible for research and development, test and evaluation, procurement and production, storage and distribution, inventory management, maintenance and disposal of all Army materiel. In statements entered into the Congressional Record upon Gen. Guthrie’s retirement, James Courter wrote: “...under [Gen. Guthrie’s] leadership, [the Army’s] materiel development and supply functions have been significantly improved. His influence on Army aviation, armor, combat and transportation vehicles, communications, electronics, missiles and munitions – virtually every piece of equipment that supports the Army mission and the individual soldier – is most evident.” During his career he was decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Joint Service Command Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, Distinguished Service Award from Federally Employed Women, and the Minuteman Hall of Fame Award.

For all his accomplishments, it was his commitment to people that distinguished his service. Again, in the words of Congressman Courter: “Gen. Guthrie has not confined his attention and energy to the equipment which the Army needs. He has also worked unceasingly in behalf of civilian and military personnel quality of life programs. He has, for example, taken measures to assure the fair distribution of awards, recognition, and training opportunities and is recognized for his strong support of Federal upward mobility, equal employment opportunity and women’s programs.” When he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Federally Employed Women, he was recognized, in the words of the FEW nomination, for “his intolerance with less than full commitment to EEO principles.”

In retirement, Gen. Guthrie served on a variety of boards of directors, including Princeton University, where he served as trustee from 1981 to 1985. He dedicated himself to serving Princeton and his Class of 1942. In 2000, he was recognized with the Harold H. Helm award, an award given annually to a single alumnus to recognize “exemplary and sustained service to Annual Giving.” In 2007, the Alumni and Friends of Princeton University ROTC established the General John R. Guthrie ’42 ROTC Scholarship Fund. Due to the outpouring of financial support for the fund, there were already seven recipients of Guthrie Fund support this year.

Gen. Guthrie and his wife Becky also served as trustees of St. John’s Community Services (SJCS), a human services agency that supports children and adults with intellectual, developmental and other disabilities, and he as the founding Chairman of the SJCS Foundation. In 2002, SJCS established the John R. and Rebecca J. Guthrie Endowment Fund to support the Guthrie Home, a SJSC residence for people with disabilities.

The life of Gen. Guthrie, --“Papa”, “DOD”, “Sir”, “the General” -- was a life of service -- to the nation, to his alma mater, and to his family. As a man, he was positively relentless, and relentlessly positive. Everything he cared about he pursued with unswerving and unbounded passion and a pure ambition and absolute determination to set a new standard. It was true of his love of country, the U.S. Army, Princeton, and of his beloved Redskins. His final years were lived at Greenspring Village, in Springfield, VA, where he made many new friends and brought his special fire to the Wii bowling league on campus, where he served as Secretary/Treasurer and where his Stoppers were champions and league leaders. Go Stoppers! Go Tigers! Go Skins!

“The General” is survived by his six children and their husbands and wives, Claire G. Gastañaga (Javier) of Richmond, VA, Michael R. Guthrie (Dottie) of Charlottesville, VA, John J. Guthrie (Marty) of Arlington, VA, Peter B. Guthrie of Princeton, NJ, Margaret G. Ressner (Dick) of Toledo, OH, and Kevin McC. Guthrie (Sari) of New York, NY, nine grandchildren, and an extended family far too numerous to count.

Gen. Guthrie will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on June 30, 2009 at 9am. Murphy Funeral Home in Arlington is handling the arrangements. The family asks that contributions, in lieu of flowers, be made either to the General John R. Guthrie ’42 ROTC Scholarship Fund at Princeton or the John R. and Rebecca J. Guthrie Endowment Fund at St. John’s Community Services.

National Day of Silence ... Help Stop Bullying

Today is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) national day of silence which focuses attention on anti-GLBT bullying in our schools.

Words can kill.

'nuff said.

20 OUTstanding Virginians

Last Saturday night, Equality Virginia honored 20 OUTstanding Virginians ... GLBT people, living and dead, who have excelled in their fields and forged new paths for others to walk.


Get to know these people, learn about their accomplishments, honor their achievements, and understand why each of us is diminished when any of us is held back, considered "less than," deprived of full equality, or refused their very humanity.


Watch and learn.


Commit to "be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Ghandi


Commit to being part of making Virginia a place where, without exception, every gay, lesbian, transgender and bi-sexual person can live a life free of violence and discrimination, a life of equal possibilities and a life of dignity and respect.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Why is it that Delegate Mark Cole didn't want to answer questions about why he pulled a resolution honoring Equality Virginia on its 20th anniversary from the uncontested block? This isn't the first time he's taken steps to be sure that no one could accuse him of saying anything nice about a GLBT organization. Last year, he pulled a resolution honoring the Gay Community Center of Virginia from the block, too.

Watch the action on the floor of the House of Delegates.

Could it be that Delegate Cole and his allies in the House of Delegates are embarrassed by their apparent bigotry?