Death Comes Calling For the Class of 9/11

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I spent a month at West Point reporting for our May 2005 cover story on Perez's fellow cadets in the class of 9/11. I didn't know Perez personally, but classmates I met all had a common trait: the ability to safeguard their sense of duty from their personal doubts or insecurities about the mission. In the classroom, I watched cadets debate the successes and failures of the current U.S. occupation strategy. They learned about the dangers of this particular war from watching videos of an IED explosion and discussing the fate of West Point graduate General Eric Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff who was ostracized for contradicting Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's estimates of how many troops would be needed in Iraq. But outside the classroom, the cadets still mustered on the plain and marched in unison, a physical reminder of their willingness to accept and execute whatever mission they were given.

On one of my last days at West Point, I watched from the stands as the class of 9/11 took the art of parading to its farcical zenith. A high wind had blown a tall plumed hat off one of the lead cadets, forcing the hundreds who followed in box formation to try to step over it without glancing down or altering their parade stride. As you might imagine, that did not work out very well. Cadet after cadet ended up stumbling over a hat that could have easily been picked up and tossed out of the way.

Even the West Point parents in attendance couldn't help laughing a bit at these proud ranks being hobbled by a lone hat. But as I watched, I finally figured it out: these things that West Pointers do--parading in unyielding formation, shining already gleaming boots, enlisting to sacrifice their lives on some unknown and unloved territory far from home--are done not out of foolishness but out of faith. They have faith that American values and resourcefulness do not lend themselves to meaningless death.

What do we owe them in return? An honest debate and some tough questions that soldiers by definition cannot outwardly ask or answer. We should be asking straight questions: Do we have enough troops? Is the war winnable? Should we redeploy to safer bases, or should we be a more muscular presence on the streets of Iraq? "Emily was just a problem solver," one of her West Point friends told me. Iraq may have defied solution so far, but we owe her a continued, honest effort. For a longer version, go to time.com where this was the most popular story of the week