Monday Thoughts

The words of a daughter, eulogizing her father who died in Afghanistan in December, 2001:

On December 5th my father, Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis, died in Afghanistan along with 2 other men, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Henry Petithory, 32, of Massachusetts, and Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, 28, of California. He died doing something he was proud of and loved doing. While all of his men were together a 2,000-pound satellite-guided bomb from a U.S. B-52 missed its target north of Kandahar, killing 3 men and wounded 20 other U.S. soldiers. My father was a great man, and I love and am proud of what he did. He died defending the U.S. He died defending YOU. I went to school one morning with a mother, father, and a brother, but when I came home, I didn't have a father. There are NO words to express how I feel right now. Sadness and anger mostly fill my mind but I am also the proudest daughter in the world…God could have never given me a better father. When you read this go to your mom and dad…give them a hug…tell them you love them because you don't know the next time you will see them. I just want everyone to know how proud of my dad I am.

Two observations.

First, this is what a warrior means, it means leaving those you love behind because you believe in something greater.

Second, being an engineer, it freaks me out that three men died from friendly fire--a satellite guided bomb missed. Presumably, it was a JDAM. Now I don't know the circumstances of the incident, perhaps it was operator error and the bomb wasn't laid in correctly, perhaps the men weren't where they said they would be. What frightens me is the possibility that the bomb made a mistake; somebody screwed up the software. That mistake led to three deaths and 20 injuries.