[trakman]

Just got on AOL this morning and I see that Time magazine has chosen it's person of the year...the American G.I. Had hoped it would have been Jessica, but as I read on, I seen they had a poll going, "Who you would have thought should have been on the cover" and Jessica name was on there along with some others... President Bush, the crew of Columbia shuttle, etc. I voted and when the results came back, the American G.I. was at 82%... the next closes was Bush and Jessica was at the bottom. I felt kind of sorry for her but I guess thats the way things are going now. At least she got my vote!

[Soprano84]

Well, Time's Person of the Year goes to the person (or in this case, group entity) that has done the most to change the world for good or bad (which is why the occasional despot has gotten the nod). Jessica may have made an impact on us (meaning peole on this board), but not on the larger, world-changing scale...at least not by herself. As a member of the US mlitary, however, she can claim a small part of the award

[GoBlue_ChrisPerry23]

Yeah that Person of the Year ( The American Soldier ) stands for all people in the active military and armed forces today and it also stands for all the past veterans as well.

[patience2]

You must be a subscriber to access the complete article but this link does show the photos of the soldiers in the story. The magazine article has two pictures of Jessica that are not included in this link. She is mentioned in the section of the magazine, "People Who Mattered-2003."

http://www.time.com/time/personoftheyear/2...poyplatoon.html

Excerpted:

[/QUOTE]
Drawn from disparate backgrounds, the platoon's members provide a portrait of the military's diversity as well as insight into the motivations—and fears—of America's fighting forces. Its soldiers include Sergeant Marquette Whiteside, 24, an African-American gunner who pines for his 6-year-old daughter; Specialist Sky Schermerhorn, 29, an idealist now gnawed by doubt about what he is fighting for; and Buxton, 32, a brainy Gulf War I veteran who since being deployed has taught himself Arabic and missed the birth of a son. Specialist Bernard Talimeliyor, 24, a native of the U.S. protectorate of Yap, Micronesia, was so moved by the events of 9/11 that he decided to enlist, even though he had never seen mainland U.S. Two noncommissioned officers, Staff Sergeant Abe Winston, 42, and Sergeant David Kamont, 34, serve as mentors to the platoon's three youngest G.I.s, Private Lequine Arnold, 20, an African American from Goldsboro, N.C.; Beverly, an amateur artist from Akron, Ohio; and Jenks, who joined the platoon in late November. Grimes, 26, the only female soldier attached to the unit, maintains a steely grit around the guys but cries on the phone to her father when she talks about what she has witnessed in Iraq. Sergeant José Cesar Aparicio, 31, a reservist, heads a psychological-operations team attached to the platoon. The leader of the Tomb Raiders, First Lieutenant Brady Van Engelen, 24, took over command two months ago and is still fighting for his soldiers' respect.

The platoon has served in Iraq for seven months and expects to stay for five more. In three weeks with the Tomb Raiders, over the course of 30 patrols with the unit and sister platoons, TIME journalists witnessed the tedium and the terror, the sacrifice and resolve that epitomize the lives of G.I.s across Iraq. Like thousands of Americans in this war, the Tomb Raiders have absorbed losses that have changed their lives forever. Theirs is the story of what the Army looks like today and what this war has become. [QUOTE]