MIKE PIRTLE, Post Publisher
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009 7:25 am

Rutherford County mourned yet again last week for the loss of yet another fallen warrior.

Spc. Russell Shane Hercules Jr. was killed while on a combat mission Thursday Oct. 1 in Afghanistan with the Pathfinder Company 4th BN 101st Airborne 159 CAB.

He was memorialized and buried with full military honors Friday.

Just last month, Army Spc. Corey Kowall, 20, of Murfreesboro, died in a vehicle crash in Afghanistan while on a military mission. He graduated from Siegel High School in 2007.

Corey was responding to a call to assist a convoy that had encountered an IED (improvised explosive device), when his vehicle overturned and he was killed in the accident.

Nothing we can do can equal the brave sacrifice of these two, young warriors, but we must remember their services and loss and that of their family and loved ones every time we consider putting those who serve us in harm’s way.

Starting a war remains way too easy. We seem to have gone into Iraq on orders along the lines of “Ready, shoot, aim,” with the sole intention of taking out an admittedly murderous dictator but in retrospect seemingly no thought about what to do after that, and more importantly the implications of the necessary war in Afghanistan that has renewed with deadly effect as this community has seen in heart-wrenching fashion in just a month.

Exiting a war remains more difficult than getting away from a tar baby and every day that a war continues means blood and life for those courageous souls in our country’s uniforms.
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Maybe the above gives us a little perspective on MTSU’s loss Tuesday to Troy.

Sure, expectations were high for the Blue Raiders going into the key Sun Belt Conference game. The Raiders were on a hot three-game win streak, whipping Memphis convincingly here at home, pulling out a clutch win at the ACC’s Maryland and whipping up on not-well-regarded North Texas.

But …

… the game was at Troy, during the week, in a nationally televised game that probably played even more to the home crowd advantage.

…. Troy was the pre-season SBC favorite with plenty of reason, notably a bunch of returning starters, including a lot of good ones say at quarterback, defensive end, linebacker and so on.

… Troy’s front defensive seven received continual accolades from just about every corner.

Well, guess what, Troy’s front seven looked like those guys in “300.” Whatever Middle threw against them just crashed and fell. Troy’s defensive ends and a linebacker appropriately named “Bear” never let a Raider running game develop and pressured the Blue’s quarterback Dwight Dasher constantly.

OK, so Middle lost and now is 3-2.

Well, a lot of folk were predicting the Raiders would be 1-4 at this point right now, maybe 2-3 with a lot of luck. With luck Middle would probably be 4-1.

This week’s showdown with Mississippi State still remains an exciting prospect and hopefully will set a Floyd Stadium attendance record for the second time this season.
•••
Well, here’s some brighter news: U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon’s bill to ban foreign nuclear waste will get a hearing in Congress this week.

You may remember an East Tennessee company wants to bring nuclear waste from Italy to our fair state for packaging and shipment west for future storage.

We still in this country don’t know what to do with our own nuclear waste, yet the federal entity responsible for nuclear power doesn’t have a rule, or even a position, against bringing in nuke waste from other countries.

Gordon can’t make the Nuclear Regulatory Agency not be a gaggle of gig-idiots, but hopefully he will get a law passed to make sure we aren’t taking on others problems when we can’t solve our own.

Anybody remember when common sense was actually in practice?