Meeting in the "Mother Of All Sandstorms"

Although "the Long Grey Line of us stretches" through two centuries now, it is good to be reminded from time to time of the power of that concept and the strength of the bonds among our graduates. The chance meeting last March 100 miles from Baghdad of two members of the Long Grey Line separated by 37 years serves as such a reminder.

About 86 hours after the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, four CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the US Third Infantry Division set out for the Euprhates River with bridge sections. Aboard one of the choppers was an NBC television crew that included NBC News producer Justin Balding, anchorman Brian Williams, and GEN (Ret) Wayne Downing, '62. Initially, the flight was the "milk run" it was expected to be, Iraqi villagers and US aircrews waving to one another. Near the town of An Najaf, however, a tarpaulin was pulled off the back of a pickup truck and a man fired his RPG-7 at the choppers. The grenade entered the back of one of the Chinooks, pierced the hull, but did not detonate. At least one AK-47 round ricocheted about the cockpit, wounding a crewmember, and the pilot thought it best to land. The other Chinooks followed suit.

Almost immediately, three Bradley Fighting Vehicles from 3d Platoon, C Company, 3/15 Infantry, commanded by 1LT Eric Nye, '99, arrived to form a perimeter around the downed convoy, digging into the desert soil as their training had taught them. The lieutenant and his men were caked in dirt and sand from their three-and-a-half days of travel without rest, but were in great humor and anxious for news from the NBC folks. For their part, the correspondents were delighted for the opportunity to interview the warriors.

Eventually, the eagle-eyed lieutenant identified GEN Downing's floppy hat as a souvenir of the older man's 40th West Point reunion, and made his acquaintance. The self-effacing Downing was his usual modest self, but it slowly dawned on the lieutenant that he was talking to the former CINC of the Special Operations Command and Assistant to the President/Deputy National Security Advisor for Containing Terrorism. The two men found themselves with much time to talk because what Balding described as "the mother of all sandstorms" blew in, a wall of thick mud and clay that locked the force in place for two days.

The entire NBC crew was highly complimentary of 1LT Nye and his troops and the "lead by example" approach taken by his NCO's and him, the lieutenant clearly having the full respect of his men. GEN Downing called 1LT Nye a "great young leader, fully in control of the situation, greatly respected by his NCOs and soldiers. West Point can still produce them."

When the weather cleared, 3d Platoon resumed its march to Baghdad. Balding, Williams, and Downing initiated email contact with the lieutenant's mother in Coral Springs, FL, forwarding photographs and accounts of the meeting in the desert. Mrs. Nye was very thankful and reported having received a telephone call from her son from the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.

Two soldiers many ranks apart in the Long Grey Line with so much in common: hail, Alma Mater!