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There are heroes among us
When U.S. Army Spec. Glen Fenwick left with his unit Charlie Company, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade for Afghanistan last July, there were 14 men in his unit. Within six months, only four were alive. Glen is one of those survivors. Altogether, 21 soldiers died.
Glen's unit first saw action in Afghanistan on Aug. 14; six days later they had another encounter and his best friend Tyler Walshe was killed.
His father Bainbridge Town Marshal Rodney Fenwick recalled the story told to him by his daughter-in-law Shawna (Glen's wife) about his son's friend's death.
Walshe's wife, "Curt" was visiting Shawna in Tacoma, Wash. at the time.
"I know what it feels like to see two men in dress blues walking to your door. When I saw them I fell on the floor afraid to go to the door. I couldn't breath," she told Rodney. "I opened the door and they said it's not Glen. I had to go wake up Curt. I was crying so hard I couldn't wake her up. I felt sorry for the officers with two women on the floor crying, one because it wasn't her husband and the other because it was."
According to his father, from the time he could walk, Glen wanted to be in the military. After he graduated from North Putnam High School in 2000, he headed to college. But after six months, he realized it wasn't for him. He got a job at Ballcamp in Plainfield, married Shawna and grew his family. He continued racing his car in the NHRA with his brother Phillip.
Eventually, he realized something was missing. He came to his father and told him to sit down.
"I've got something I've got to do," he said.
He told his dad he had signed up to serve in the Army. At the same time, his younger brother Phillip also signed up in the Army Reserve. Phillip is in the process of changing his military status so he can work with Special Forces, specifically with the Army's "Zapper," a piece of equipment that can help build things or blow them up.
"As a parent, I back them 100 percent. Glen lost his home and just about everything after signing up. He couldn't afford it anymore, but he had to do what his country needed," said Rodney.
"The first nine months were really tough. He couldn't see his kids or wife but he handled it. Over time he has had many types of specialized training and he is headed toward where he wants to be, which is in the Special Forces," he continued.
About being deployed to Afghanistan, Glen is firm in his belief that serving in the military is right for him.
"I'm doing what has to be done to protect my family, protect your family, protect everybody's family," he told his father.
The deaths of so many men in such a short time frame in one division has caused a controversy within the army command. According to the Army Times, Stryker soldiers say commanders failed them in the Afghanabad River Valley where they were deployed.
It was July when the 1-17 deployed to Afghanistan, and August when the battalion moved into the Arghamdab. Within 48 hours, they were in combat with some of the 200-300 insurgents in the 'green zone' -- a 14-mile-by-4-mile patchwork of small fields, orchards and vineyards. The dense foliage and high mud walls offered insurgents ample hiding placed for the booby traps the military refers to improvised explosive devices.
The first soldier to die was Spec. Troy Tim. The casualties mounted steeply, climaxing Oct. 27 when seven solders and an interpreter died when their Stryker was destroyed by the force of an estimated 1,500 pounds of homemade explosive buried in the banks of the river. By early December, the battalion had lost 21 men.
The Army News article says that members of the I-17 had spent two years training for combat but for the wrong theater. They were training for Iraq. But in February their orders changed and they were headed for Afghanistan.
"The principles are the same, but the details are night and day, and we've learned that the hard way over the last almost five months," said one soldier in the article.
Rodney knows that Glen loves his job and he hates his job. He re-upped for another six years, knowing he will most likely be back in Afghanistan if he makes it home.
"He has gotten into it a couple of times with protestors. He didn't start anything but he responded to them because he feels like they don't want to hear what he has to say," said Rodney.
"They talk about rights and I have a right to my opinion. They get mad at me for my opinion but I'm not mad about theirs. I'd like to have them come over here for one day and see what the world is really like," said Glen.
He worries about the treatment of women and children in Afghanistan.
"They don't want us to leave. They don't want things to go back to where they can be treated so inhumanely. Women and girls there have no rights. They are abused, raped and killed," he told his father.
When asked how he feels about the danger his son Glen is in, and that Phillip may be in soon, Rodney is philosophic.
"Life is what it is. I've been a cop most of my life. I don't look at things the same way most people do. They are doing what has to be done in a world where there are a certain number of people to do what has to be done," said Rodney.
"If anything happened to any of my children it would be traumatic, but I know they are doing what they believe in. Glen is not scared to die for something he believes in. I've come to the realization that if it's his time, it will happen whether it's there or here," Rodney said.
When Glen returns to his home base in Tacoma, where Shawna and his three kids, 7-year-old Chase, 5-year-old Kadince and 2-year-old Jorja wait for him. He will go to several specialty training schools in preparation for a new assignment in Special Forces.
His brother Phillip is married to Robin and has a daughter Hayliegh, 23 months old. He will soon be leaving Terre Haute and heading to war.
"I believe when you are doing what you believe in and for the betterment of other people, God has his hand on you. But I always believe when it is time, it's time. My wife Kathleen and I both look at it this way," said Rodney.
"My sons still believe in what they are doing. I've taught them life is what it is. Are they patriots?" he asks. "Yes, they are."