A Missing Son, ‘Confused & Unable to Call Home’

[mcscajun]

January 21, 2008
This Land
A Missing Son, ‘Confused & Unable to Call Home’
By DAN BARRY

KENNESAW, Ga.

The man emerged from the night’s anonymity to sit at the counter, across from the stainless steel grill and the stacks of white plates. He wore a blue jacket appropriate for the January cold, but his left hand was covered with writing of some kind. And, ever so softly, he was talking to himself.

It was 3:20 on the second morning of a new year indistinguishable still from the difficult one just past, in a 24-hour chain restaurant on Highway 41 called the Huddle House, where pie and respite are served to the hungry and solitary. The tired waitress, Patsy Schirmer, pulling a rare overnight, approached the customer and asked:

What can I get for you?

The man accepted this open-ended question in terms of food only, muttering an order of scrambled eggs and grits and requesting water, with lemon. He ate everything on his plate, continuing his private conversation all the while. He paid his bill, left no tip, and slipped back behind night’s curtain.

A woman walked in 20 minutes later, carrying leaflets. Her name was Sheryl Futrell and she had been searching for weeks for her disoriented son, an Iraq-Afghanistan war veteran named Gary Chronister. Here is his photograph, she said — and you know the rest.

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[MADem]

1. My heart goes out to that mother... NT

[tomreedtoon]

2. Our candidates should NOT get angry about this.

They should treat the Republicans, especially Bush and his predecessors, like gentlemen whom they compete against with Robert's Rules of Order. No matter how many people like this poor man they destroy, no matter how many people live under bridges on grates, no matter how many lives have been shattered or how many more are about to be shattered, they should never express any anger or outrage about this.

And you wonder why the Republicans keep winning.

You blame voting machines and push polls and voter disenfranchisement. You never blame the candidates who can't get angry about the citizens of this country being raped and abused by its leaders.

Not even Edwards is angry enough to get the job done.

[unhappycamper]

3. Expect to see a tsunami of stories like this.

PTSD and TBI are really bad news.

[mcscajun]

4. I kept reading this one, hoping for what I knew I wouldn't get...

...a happy ending. I put this out there so his name circulates. Maybe someone will know someone who knows someone...

[unhappycamper]

5. You should also post this in the GA forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=146

[mcscajun]

6. Excellent suggestion. Done.

:hi: