|
I have never met you, and yet I know you well. You are struggling with things that none of us should ever have to face, at a time when hearts should be turned towards happiness and joy. I commend you for your CO efforts, and commend you for the choice you must make should these efforts fail. You have defined patriotism in a way that few people will ever know.
I came of age during the Vietnam War, and remember waiting on a chilly November evening for the results of the draft lottery to be announced. I pulled a 352 – there would be no military service for me. Had the number been lower, I don’t know what would have happened. My dad came ashore on Utah Beach in Normandy during WWII, and as fate would have it found himself in the middle of The Battle Of The Bulge during that same war, where a mortar met his leg. I remember him asking me if I believed in the Vietnam War, and I said no. “Then don’t go”, he said, and he meant it. He had lived his own personal hell, and he would be damned if he would feel that hell again through the eyes of his son.
I did not have the responsibilities that you have now, so my choice was an easy one. As you have so eloquently stated, you have been shouting “NO” now for many months, via your words and actions, not knowing if they would bear fruit. Should they not, you are making the hard choice, but for the right reasons. You will do not what is best for you, but what is best for others, making sure they are protected as best they can be in a hell not of their own making. How I wish I had your courage.
This war in Iraq sickens me, as it does with all of us who share our thoughts on this board. Because of it, I love deeper now than I ever thought possible, and I hate with a passion that I never knew existed. Do you feel this as well? Two opposite feelings, so far away and yet so completely intertwined. Lies make me hate. Death makes me hate. Dishonor and misuse of the underpinnings of this great nation make me hate.
And so I write. I write to stem the pain, and I write to start the healing. Perhaps these words will be of comfort to you, or perhaps to others. Perhaps I write to be read by thousands, or perhaps just by one. Or perhaps I write out of a sense of selfishness, as if crying over a keyboard somehow brings a sense of righteous indignation to the cause. I don’t know.
I hope with all my heart that your deployment does not go through, and that you and your wife will spend many years together, hand in hand. If the worse comes to pass, go forth with the knowledge that we will do everything we can to make sure you come home safe. We march, we write, and we scream. We are a true community here, and if there is anything you need all you have to do is ask. Be safe, and be strong. We will continue to unmask the lies and bring forth the truth, and we will not stop until we win.
We cannot afford to do anything else.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
