222
We continued our trek from Dr Jon’s toward the Pennsylvania border on Rt 94 on Friday. The sky remained clear during our treck down Rt 222. As me made our way south we encountered several traffic jams for what appeared to be no apparent reason. As we plodded along in the high eighty degree temperatures at five miles an hour I found my self cursing route 222. It was my 666 but only a fraction. Ross had it no better as his Saturn Ion has no air conditioning and it’s black. The only solace we found was when the jam would let up and for twenty or thirty minutes we were cooled down at high speeds. We were heading for Bel Air, Maryland.
I was seeking to make contact with the family of Jennifer Parcell, who was one of the first female casualties in the Iraq War. We finally got off Rt. 222 by turning on to Rt. 623 to pass over the Susquehanna River on the Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant Dam, an impressive structure that spans the river at the Cecil County and Harford County borders in Maryland. The dam is over 4600 feet in length, has 53 flood control gates, and has a total of twelve turbines that produce a peak output of 548 megawatts of power. It was completed in 1928 and is one of the largest non-federal hydroelectric dams.
As we made our way west into Bel Air on Rt. 155 the clouded sky above of me let out a mild warm rain while the sky in the west shined a bright sun in my eyes. The contrast was unbearable, forcing me to stop to get a cup of coffee. We decided to call it a day and found a room at Days Inn in Emmorton, nothing special, just cheap and free wi-fi.
Jennifer Parcell died on 2/7/07 in Barwanah Iraq, the result of a female homicide/suicide bombers last and perhaps only mission. Jennifer was twenty two at the time of her death.
She has a MySpace website dedicated to her with recent postings. No one is left the same by their personal casualty of this war, and there is no returning to the way it used to be.
I had no luck in finding a family member, but I must admit, my efforts were minimal as any interview with a family member would have been difficult.