His mother recently found the paper when she was going through some of his personal items. She could hardly believe what she read.
"...we will probably end up in war with Iraq, and I may fall victim to the harsh realities of that war..."
Mark J. Gologram fulfilled his own prophecy. On the morning of Match 18, Mark was driving his military vehicle down Dodge Highway-a narrow, heavily traveled road in Saudi Arabia-when he collided with another military vehicle. He was killed instantly.
His father believed that Mark wasn't afraid to die. In one conversation prior to his death, Mark had mentioned that if he were to fall, he'd be joining another Army, God's Army.
At only 23, Mark had already made several request in case he were "to fail"-his expression for dying for your country.
According to his parents, Eleanor and Harry Lee, all of his request have been honored.
One of his requests was to have a military funeral in his hometown of Alliance.
He also requested that if he or his best friend, Marine CPL Dennis Betz should fall in war, they would wear each others dog tags for eternity. Ironically, Dennis also lost his life while serving in the Marines. Mark was one of his pallbearers.
In death, they are wearing each others dog tags.
Mark was an active military policeman from July 1986 to July 1989. After a year of being away from the military, he decided to resume serving his country and joined the 838th MP Company in May 1990. Before deployment, Mark planned to go active duty again, making the Army a career as an officer.
"Mark loved the military, It was in his blood," his mother said. "When he was in high school, he and his friends would play "soldier" in the woods. They'd use camouflage, flashlights, everything."
"He also liked rifles and pistols, and spent a lot of time target practicing at ranges," she continued. "He was a ranger when he was at the University of Akron, but he wasn't in ROTC. He was one of the few rangers who wasn't in ROTC; since he had prior Army training, they let him join." Even though he wasn't in ROTC, they still had a ceremony for his death.
Just four months prior to Mark's death, when the 838th was at Fort Dix for deployment, he was promoted to Sergeant. He was made team leader three weeks before he died.
For his tour of duty in the Persian Gulf and his overall contribution to military life, the U.S. Army posthumously honored Mark with the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal and Good Conduct Medal.
Mark's father refers to Mark as 'a child sent from heaven.' "He was the kind of son that every parents would want to raise-respectful, helpful. If I had a ditch to dig, a fence to move, a roof to put on, he was there."
The Golograms say they will never get over their son's death. Nobody ever does.
"We've talked to people who have been dealing with this for more than ten years," Harry Lee said, "and they say it still hurts."
"It's a victory for those parents who welcomed their children back. We pray that other parents will never have to go through this. You just can't imagine this kind of pain. We didn't."
"It changes your life. You'll never be the same."
Edited from an article written by SGT Lorie King, 196th Public Affairs Detachment, Fall 1991 edition of the Buckeye Guard, official publication of the Ohio National Guard, |
Ohio ARNG