Larry Gude
Strung Out
In todays e mail:
This from a lady who lives on a house on my farm. Her husband Randy, who helps me when we're busy, has spent most of the last two years in the burn unit in San Antonio after being blown up doing convoy duty in Iraq for the Maryland National Guard which is to say for us. They're both still there, but he's lucky. He didn't lose any limbs and his short term memory is getting better. The guy who drug him away from the burning truck, Mike McMullen, and covered him right before the second bomb went off died. I water Kim's plants every other week. I forget fairly often and it might be three weeks or so some times.
My step son spent 12 months there for Uncle Sam as did my daughter in law.
He went back for 4 more months for his company and his Christmas present from all of us was that he just got recalled to active duty. Seems he hasn't served enough yet.
None of these people were gonna cure cancer or make wintertime static electricity go away and one could argue people get hurt and die all the time and most soldiers who go to Iraq come back in one piece. So then you have to reconcile if it matters or not what they were doing and why.
Objectively, you have to convince yourself that the 3,000 some odd dead, like Mike, and 25,000 or so wounded, like Randy, and the 100's of thousands of family members and friends, like Kim and the McMullens, impacted by these deaths and injuries are to be honored, the dead, and comforted, everybody else, by the idea that their sacrifice will keep terrorists off our streets and out of our planes thereby sparing so very many more fellow citizens a horrible fate.
Then, objectively, you have to convince yourself that their sacrifice was the only and best option we had in order to deal with Usama and Saddam and global terror.
Then, objectively, you have to convince yourself that by accepting these losses and continuing a course of action that guarantees more makes you tough and resolved and wise.
Lastly, objectively, you have to convince yourself that whatever it is we may or may not achieve in Iraq by staying it is worth the life and/or limb of another soldier, the life and/or limb of your neighbors kid, your own son or daughter.
There is no snappy last sentence to summarize this post and drive home a point.
This from a lady who lives on a house on my farm. Her husband Randy, who helps me when we're busy, has spent most of the last two years in the burn unit in San Antonio after being blown up doing convoy duty in Iraq for the Maryland National Guard which is to say for us. They're both still there, but he's lucky. He didn't lose any limbs and his short term memory is getting better. The guy who drug him away from the burning truck, Mike McMullen, and covered him right before the second bomb went off died. I water Kim's plants every other week. I forget fairly often and it might be three weeks or so some times.
My step son spent 12 months there for Uncle Sam as did my daughter in law.
He went back for 4 more months for his company and his Christmas present from all of us was that he just got recalled to active duty. Seems he hasn't served enough yet.
None of these people were gonna cure cancer or make wintertime static electricity go away and one could argue people get hurt and die all the time and most soldiers who go to Iraq come back in one piece. So then you have to reconcile if it matters or not what they were doing and why.
Objectively, you have to convince yourself that the 3,000 some odd dead, like Mike, and 25,000 or so wounded, like Randy, and the 100's of thousands of family members and friends, like Kim and the McMullens, impacted by these deaths and injuries are to be honored, the dead, and comforted, everybody else, by the idea that their sacrifice will keep terrorists off our streets and out of our planes thereby sparing so very many more fellow citizens a horrible fate.
Then, objectively, you have to convince yourself that their sacrifice was the only and best option we had in order to deal with Usama and Saddam and global terror.
Then, objectively, you have to convince yourself that by accepting these losses and continuing a course of action that guarantees more makes you tough and resolved and wise.
Lastly, objectively, you have to convince yourself that whatever it is we may or may not achieve in Iraq by staying it is worth the life and/or limb of another soldier, the life and/or limb of your neighbors kid, your own son or daughter.
There is no snappy last sentence to summarize this post and drive home a point.
What do they think about what they are doing there?
Back on anysoldier.com I go... time to ship some more boxes.
