i_poop_too_much

Isiah Sinclair, on my left in this candid taken exactly one year ago, was killed in Iraq early Saturday morning.

According to the press release, at about 8:30 am he and another soldier were on patrol when their Humvee passed by a car rigged to explode.

I lived down the street from Isiah and worked 5 days a week with him for a year before he got word that his Reserves unit was shipping out....to Iraq. Maybe it was paranoia, maybe it was divine foresight, but I knew that I should say my goodbyes-I knew he wouldn't be coming back.

Isiah was an example of a great human being-he treated everyone curteously, even the majority of our coworkers-who harassed him nonstop for "not being black enough". He spoke proper English, he had an education and was wanting to go back to school again, he didn't concern himself with the current hot fashions, he liked music other than rap, etc.

While I don't agree with the reasons our troops are in the Middle East, I don't support "them" either. It's a shame that ANY human life has to be wasted. Isiah and I may not have agreed on the point of his deployment, but I certainly never wished harm upon him for it, and I hope that he did indeed understand that.

I'm glad that I got to say goodbye to him. I don't regret holding out hope that he'd return. Breakfasts without Ike have been lacking enough for the last year, but knowing that the seat won't be filled someday....

His battalion is due home by the end of 2005, possibly as early as September.

As for the news hawks circling the campus and workplace, hoping to get a sobbing snippet to attract viewers for the evening news....fuck you and your attempts to "hook" someone into a political statement over his death. He's not here to speak for himself, and I know Ike well enough to know that he would NOT appreciate anyone putting words into his mouth or using his name for such means. I understand that like he, you're just doing your job-but some of you are visciously career minded about another human being, and I hope that one day you taste your own medicine.

It infuriates me that Isiah had to die like that, while countless assholes with pictures of the WTC taped to their bunk are out there gung-ho crazy for all the wrong reasons, just itching to kill any "raghead" because "they're all the same", etc.

Rest in peace, Isiah; we'll still save a seat for you.