I'd rather see a rapid elimination to the "hell" that so many American families go through....now in 16 months doses.....wondering whether they'll get the knock on the door, from two crisply uniformed representatives of the Secretary of Defense who "regret to inform them".....
....have you ever, uber.....have you ever rehearsed how you would react to such a knock on your door.....I have....starting for the first time, last October. We'll be doing it again...starting this fall. This is not worth the sacrifice demanded of our troops, or of their families. Iraqis have had their opportunity. They have chosen to fight each other, or the American occupier.....
Quote:
http://tpmcafe.com/blog/morgan_parde..._we_wait_again
So, Now We Wait. Again.
Six members of my son's company died yesterday in Diyala Province, Iraq, killed in a massive explosion that entirely destroyed a Stryker vehicle. Only one person survived. My daughter-in-law spent the whole day with her best friend and was with her when she received word that her fiancé had been killed......
.......Mothers Day is a very sad day for many, many military families, and six more mothers will be grieving this Sunday.
My daughter-in-law and her friend were shopping at the mall when the call came in. She collapsed on the floor, and it took 15 minutes to "peel her off the floor," I learned later.
The mothers, wives and girl friends of the soldiers in my son's company are shocked and horrified. They've been coping by going along in a state of denial, avoiding the news and finding ways to deal with their loved ones being "away." They're no stranger to news of casualties, but this time it's too close. We're all feeling each others grief. .......
......As I hung up, I felt like someone had hit me in the gut and I couldn't catch my breath. I stood there on the side of the bike lane, looking down at the cell phone in my hand, letting her words sink in, thoughts of my son swirling inside my head.
This is real. This is war. And all the killing and dying is real. It isn't just happening to someone else. It's happening to us. It's happening to young people we know, people who are just starting out in life. Young men and women planning weddings, having babies, thinking about their lives "after the Army." This particular young man was only 23 years old.......
.......How do you explain to a total stranger that someone's child, perhaps my child, could be dead because of one stupid man's callous indifference to human suffering?
I couldn't look in their faces ... I didn't even think to ask their names. I didn't want to see their pity. I was afraid my rage would spill over with my tears. They were trying to be kind. I just wanted to go home...........
..........I threw my bike in the back, jumped behind the steering wheel, pulled out my cell phone and called the company commander's wife, I asked, "How many?"
"Six." I nearly dropped the phone. In one horrific moment many lives had changed. Forever.
Later that evening, my daughter-in-law cried in my arms, "I can't do this anymore." But we must do this, because this president says we must.
This war has ended tragically for six more of our troops, bringing the total number of dead to 3,373 ... and counting. And we're being told there will be many more, because "we're taking the fight to the enemy."
My son's unit was supposed to return home in three weeks from a year-long deployment, but because of this president's stubborn refusal to see an end to this war, they will not be home until October.
So, now we wait. Again. Wait for our loved ones to call, pray they will call.
Yet, beneath all my sorrow, I guiltily have a small feeling of relief inside, because it wasn't MY son who died.
This time.
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You can come out for "giving it more time for benchmarks to be achieved". You can ignore the passage of a bill with a withdrawal timetable by majorities iof both houses, simply because it was negated by "the decider" who had been correct about nothing, and reliable and honest....what percent of the time?
I'm not willing to.....and I've only lived a small "taste" of what it must be like to actually answer the door at the knock of two crisply uniformed....on behalf of the secretary....we regret to inform you that......