A Fallen Star in Iraq
On the night of November 14th 2004, Wolf Weiss died
as a result of gunshot wounds to the head. He was killed during an ambush in Mosul on his way to pick
up two U.S. Embassy officials he was assigned to drive to Baghdad. Wolf was a
mercenary stationed in Iraq. He was 36 years
old and leaves behind his wife,
Kitt (Evangelina)
and three children;
Theresa, Michael Wolf and Sarah.
Weiss was one of the estimated
over 150,000 mercenaries currently in Iraq ─also known
as operators or shooters. These soldiers of fortune are hired by major corporations
to escort supply convoys and corporate clients and protect workers and
officials from insurgency attacks. It is estimated that operators could end up costing the U.S. tax payer in excess
of a quarter of the budget allocated for the reconstruction of Iraq.
Wolf was a colorful character. A
body built fit for the job. His torso and arms were scattered with tattoos. A
panther was visible on his left arm and a Grim Reaper playing the guitar
adorned his right bicep. His back was covered by the face of a wolf ready to
pounce. If one looked closely at the animal’s eyeball one could see the image
of a hunter with his hands up. An image of the predator who
had now become the prey: “A good representation of myself and my ideals” he
would add, “the Wolf is obviously me” and “the man in the eyeball is Evil”. In
the end the compelling image between the real predator or
the real victim would become blurred in the tragic reality of war.
Wolf first joined the Marine Corps at
the age of 18. He needed the discipline to turn his life around from being a: “No-good
two-bit son-of-a bitch asshole drug addict”, as he described himself. He also
needed to redeem himself from the “Evil” circumstances surrounding his father’s
death.
Vic Weiss was as original as his
son. A self made sports promoter, he was murdered in 1979. According to the Los
Angeles Times, Weiss "privately rubbed shoulders with criminals, ran up
huge debts on sports betting and skimmed off the top of laundered money he
delivered to mobsters." His murder had all the appearance of a mob
execution. It has never been solved.
The tragedy “spawned his hatred for Evil” that will confront
him for the rest of his life. At his mother’s request he gave up looking for
his father’s killers. He eventually got married and had three kids. He also
turned to the “Lord” who became center
stage in his life.
In 1999 he suddenly quit the
Marines. When asked why he was leaving the Corps only six years before becoming
eligible for retirement, he replied: “I want to be a rock & roll star”. He
tried his hand as a tattoo artist while promoting his own artistic career. He
eventually produced his own album but couldn’t handle the reality of the corporate
music industry and its control over artistic aspirations.
When the U.S. invaded Iraq he decided to join.
"I trust my country and I trust my flag," he said: "I trust that
they're making the right decision, even if I don't understand it." He
would add "I am not afraid of dying…To be absent from the body is to be present
with the Lord."
The harsh reality is that the afterlife
is for the living who suffer the void left behind by the
departed. In Kitt’s words: “I wish
and pray God would give him back to me”.
The full story in
Rolling Stone Magazine
