I am a student at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. I went to do my show at the campus student radio station tonight and when I entered the station, the DJ who was there told me there as a "sketchy man" outside the station. I start my radio show, which always begins with a recording of Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock. The other DJ's leave, and the man comes to the window, he's rolling a cigarette and looks cool so I let him into the station. He tells me that he's a Vietnam Vet who did three tours, and that his son is in the army in Iraq and was killed two days ago. His name is Frank Grammer, his son is Jr. We listened to Hendrix tunes for an hour and smoked cigarettes and talked. He was pretty grungy and drunk, so I assume he's homeless or at least on the fringes somewhere in SE Portland.
I went home and googled Iraq casualty lists and the name Frank Grammer...there are several reported casualties in Iraq that have yet to be publicly identified.
I found this on the internet:
http://www.grandronde.org/PR/past_articles/2004/0701/grammer.htmFrank Grammer is duty-bound and looks for an opportunity to “do his part.”
Family Man — Tribal member Frank Grammar and his son, Brandon, at home in Dallas. Father and son had to say goodbye for more than a year for Grammar’s latest assignment with the Army National Guard.
By Ron Karten
Late in June, Specialist Frank Grammer, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Army National Guard, began his latest military odyssey in LaGrande, Oregon...
In October of this year, Grammer’s “six by two” commitment to the National Guard is technically over, but like tens of thousands of others, he learned recently that his commitment will be extended. In the face of it, he is taking the initiative to extend his commitment for another three years...
His childhood was not that well insured. His family broke up by the time he was four. From the time he was four until his mother was killed under uncertain circumstances when he was 13 he had been shuttled into and out of 49 group and foster homes. Sick of it, he quit school and lit out for the streets of Portland, where he lived homeless for nearly five years.
...Grammer nevertheless reserves top praise for his wife, Marsha (Standing Rock Sioux), who has “always done right by me; just the smallest things that add up the most.”
“And she always has her own little things going — that’s what I love about her.”
Grammer and Marsha have a baby son, Brandon, and Marsha’s older sons, Robin and Brad, round out the family living in Dallas. While Grammer collects old coins and loves football for spare time pursuits, “spending time with my family, that’s what matters most,” he said.
“I don’t want to die,” he said, “but I didn’t join for the college money.”
The concentration required for demolition work sets the bar highest for Grammer. “As a combat engineer in war, our life expectation is about seven seconds.”
Still, with a certainty that he knows how to survive, whether on the streets of Portland, Kabul or Baghdad, Grammer already has the question settled in his head.
“When I get back,” he said, “I will feel I have cheated death.”
If anyone knows how to contact this family, I would like to let them know where Frank Grammer Sr. is and try to see if we can't get him to his sons funeral. This has been keeping me up all night, tommorow I am going to start calling Grammer's in the Portland white pages.
-Z
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