MichaelMoore.com

'Correct Pronunciation Takes on Importance' ...by Craig McCool

Traverse City Record-Eagle

His name was Paton, pronounced with a hard 'a' sound so it rhymed with 'Dayton.'

But Brigadier Gen. John Bartley mispronounced it in his remarks. He kept saying 'Patton,' like the famous World War II hero.

It was a small thing, but duly noted by many of those who gathered at the Walloon Lake Community Church last week.

Bartley was, after all, the guy who gazed over a flag-draped casket at Justin Paton's parents in the first row of the sanctuary and asked them "to please accept the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Army.”

It would be easy to read a lot into such a mistake, particularly in the context of an event steeped in symbolism: the honor guard, the bugler who played Taps, the meticulous, military flag presentation (incidentally, it was Bartley who passed the neatly folded American flag to Justin's father).

It's tempting to interpret the general's remarks as a sign of callousness. Why didn't he ask someone how to say the name? Did he not care?

Wasn't he paying attention when, earlier in the service, one of Justin's friends took the microphone and shared some kind words, beginning with "We always just called him Paton”?

Paton. Patton.

Or, one could view it as a metaphor for the entire war. Maybe our leaders would rather not get bogged down with details, little things like how to correctly say the name of a young man who died in a desert 6,000 miles from his home in Alanson.

But I don't see it that way. I think the name-mistake — Paton, Patton — is probably just a sign that Bartley already has participated in too many of these services. No doubt he's addressed too many grieving families, presented too many flags and given too many speeches beginning with the acknowledgement that he "never had the honor of serving with” so-and-so.

Justin Paton died Feb. 17, fatally shot while conducting counter-insurgency operations with his unit in the village of Taramia, south of Baghdad. The 24-year-old was one of more than 3,160 American military casualties to date in Iraq and he was not the only American killed that day. Elsewhere in Iraq, two other soldiers and a Marine died, men from Mississippi, Georgia and Kansas.

That means there were three other funerals in three other communities last week, three other families handed folded flags, Purple Hearts and the heartfelt — if impersonal — thanks of a grateful military.

Paton. Patton.

General Bartley, I'm sure, meant no offense. He probably dreads each service he's asked to officiate and no doubt hopes each will be the last.

It won't. There's no end in sight. The president's pledge to send an additional 20,000 troops into Iraq assures that Bartley and other ranking, state-side officials will for the foreseeable future attend funerals of young men and women with whom they never had the honor of serving.

For Donald and Shelley Paton and for thousands of other grieving families, it will never be enough. The honor guards, the 21-gun salutes, the buglers and medals and crisply folded flags, none of it will ever be enough. Not by far.

But getting the names right — literally the least that a grateful military could do — well, that might be a start.