My friend's 19 yr old son.. back for 2 months (Iraq)..now headed for...

[SoCalDem]

wait for it...





Afghanistan..

She's just sick at heart.. he leaves before Christmas..

:cry:

[fooj]

1. OMG.

:cry:

When will enough be enough? This is insane.........

[Kagemusha]

2. He's lucky it's not Iraq again.

That's a grim thing to say but, I believe it to be an accurate assessment.

Good luck to him regardless.

[SoCalDem]

9. Soldiers are being trapped in a cycle, though

Iraq-Afghanistan-Iraq-Afghanistan


rinse & repeat.

When they come home they get counted as having "left" Iraq, but the ones who replace them there, are often soldiers from Afghanistan,,

It's all a big circular LIE

[villager]

3. Oh God. So sorry to hear this.

Hope they can have some kind of holiday time before the next "assignment" beckons...

[JuniperLea]

4. Choking back tears...

I can't imagine. I mean, I quite literally cannot imagine. My mind will not let me get close to thinking how that would be.

That's a child. A 19-year-old child.


:cry:

[rainbow4321]

12. A few Xmas' ago I took my 19 year old to DFW airport

to take an international flight to visit a relative. DFW is one of 2 airports where returning troops arrive back here in the US---so many young faces..looking as young/younger than my daughter.
Hell, I get nauseated just sending her on the international flight to see the relative, I'd have to be sedated forever if she were amongst the troops I saw leaving/arriving that day at the airport.

On a positive note, there is always a large group of greeters for the troops when they arrive at DFW to welcome them back...along with the troops' families/children. Really makes it hard to watch it all and not start crying.

[JuniperLea]

15. My middle kid went to Ohio

And when I dropped him off at LAX... watched him climb the stairs with a backpack and his guitar... he was about 19 at the time... it scared the hell out of me and he was only going to Ohio!!

I just can't fathom...

[deadmessengers]

19. I just picked up a friend at ATL airport

...and saw a whole bunch of children, (and yes, they were children, each and every one of them) on their way to basic training at Ft. Benning, about 70 miles SW of Atlanta. Utterly heartbreaking. I remember feeling what I can only describe as 'boiling rage' thinking about how the recruiters scammed those kids into signing up. :cry:

[SoCalDem]

22. My friend is on disability and her husband had to retire early

due to a heart condition, so their young guy decided that he would sign up so he could go to college and not burden them with more expenses..

Of course she was furious that the dscided oon his own. They would have gladly sold their house to send him (it's more than they can handle these days anyway)..

[Rex]

5. I'm sorry Socaldem.

The Bush Cabal must be made to pay for the abuse against our military. Poor kid. :(

[Karenina]

6. At some point Americans will have to grasp

THE FACT the the *administration's GOAL is DEPOPULATION. BY.ANY.MEANS.NECESSARY.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

7. I'd be headed for Canada instead if I were in that position.

Saw a piece last night on a Canadian network that is helping U.S. military to live in Canada with families there to avoid going back to war. It's extreme, but alive in Canada beats the hell out of dead in Iraq or Afghanistan.

[Ian David]

13. He made an oath to defend the country and protect The Constitution. However...

there are more ways to do that than simply following orders.

And there are more ways to avoid redeployment than simply running away.

That's my own, personal opinion.

[dogday]

8. Son of a bitch

My son just came home 2 weeks ago... This is not what I need to hear....

[wakeme2008]

10. How long was he in Iraq nt

[SoCalDem]

11. 16 months n/t

[evilgenius602]

14. my sympathies to your friend

Afghanistan is better than Iraq, but crimony! Given the imcompetence of the way BOTH wars were run, if it was my kid I'm afraid I'd say, "Son, which is your favorite knee?"

[BrotherBuzz]

16. That's WRONG and abusive on so many levels

The military knows, and it's always been accepted that a soldier needs equal time deployed as stationed stateside. Spend a year in a hellhole, then expect a year stateside, that used to be a given. Studies have always shown this is necessary for a healthy soldier and family. Always, until Bushco* came to be. He is destroying the military as we speak. Moral in the military must be in the cellar. It is SO wrong, and it chaps my butt!

[nam78_two]

17. Good luck to them

:(

[warrens]

18. Better than Iraq

But jeez, my 16 year old has been at school in the wilds of Massachussets since Sept. 15, and the thought of not seeing her at Xmas...it would be very painful. I really sympathize with your friend. Trying to imagine my daughter leaving for Afghanistan...blechh. She's only 3 years younger than this kid, and to me she's still a kid. I doubt I will feel significantly different in three years.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

20. May he be safe and healthy... and I am so sorry for our ruling elite

putting all of our soldiers at risk.

[applegrove]

21. That is so sad. Though Afghanistan seems slightly less frightening

than Iraq these days. But not by much.

[hiaasenrocks]

23. "Safe home" wishes to him. He volunteered after 9/11 and I

can't imagine why anyone who did that would be surprised that they're being deployed.

[shance]

24. Many are refusing to be redeployed. It's difficult to say the least, but he can.

There are other men and women who have stood firm and said they wont return, and there are those who would support his choice and help him in any way they can.

It's his life he is putting on the line.

[elehhhhna]

25. Our 22 y/o neighbor girl ships to Iraq in June.

They've brainwashed her well--which is good, I guess, given what she may be confronted with ...

She'd better be going to pack them up and bring them home.

[BeHereNow]

26. Meanwhile, the Bush twins are living it up in Argentina

And five little girls were killed in Iraq today by US tank fire.

Justice? You want justice?

Clearly, we live in a world gone mad.

I weep for your friend and her child.

BHN