I guess I'm really an American now. [View All]

[Plaid Adder]

Last night I picked up a letter with my address on it and I looked at the corner and went, "What the hell is WRAMC and who in Georgia is sending me mail?" I opened it up and it turned out to be a thank you note from Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

This November someone posted a message on DU about how Walter Reed was asking people to donate prepaid phone cards to the wounded soldiers so they could call home over the holidays. Knowing from my own experience how much it sucks not to be able to talk to your loved one(s) on the holidays, and also being kind of shocked that after you get one of your limbs blown off for the government they don't give you unlimited long-distance while you're recuperating, I went out and bought a bunch of phone cards and mailed each one off with a little note.

I am glad to know they did get the cards. I feel curiously ambivalent about the thank-you note. It is a very nice note. The last line reads, "It is you, the American people, who make this country what it is and makes us all proud to be Americans" (emphasis theirs).

I feel like at the same time I could say that I do actually believe that, and that I wish it was true. And also, looking at the italics and bold on "Americans," I feel a little queasy.

We say all the time that you can love the country and still not support the government, or that you can support the troops without supporting the war. And that is what most of us end up doing, but it's difficult, and there are these moments where you end up just staring at a piece of paper in your hand and thinking about how strange and sad things really are.

This is the problem with being an American and a citizen of the world at the same time. In every battle, your side loses, and your people get hurt. I donated to the International Red Cross last year. I'll probably do it again this year, but of course in most of the places where our army is operating, either the humanitarian organizations have pulled out, or we're not letting them in.

Peace on @#$! earth,

The Plaid Adder