8/22/2005
Some Random Thoughts
American Soldier says,
I found myself searching for deploying units today. I was looking for units that were leaving sometime next year. After about a half hour of looking I thought to myself, what am I doing?
Sometimes I get these waves of needing to go back. It has lessened in the past few months but it is still deeply engrained. I see my duffle bags in the garage and think. Hmm, I wonder if I bought a ticket to Germany, I bet I could get to Iraq. The fantasy quickly fades when my two-year-old daughter walks in and she says that she went potty on the big girl toilet. No lie, it’s verbatim. She amazes me.
I know that I will be sent back at some point. It is an inevitable fate that I gladly accept. I don’t know what it is. I cannot comprehend not serving. I just can’t grasp trying to avoid going back. I know it puts a burden on my family, it holds up my employer but dammit if it weren’t for willing Soldiers. Then all of this would not exist. We live in a time when people want to hurt all that we have. We haven’t had to defend our beloved country is years. It’s time to mount up and accept that this is not going away.
For a while I have avoided discussing a certain person who has been protesting outside the Bush vacation home. I feel bad that she lost a child but I will not condone a person who is going to trash talk my fellow Soldiers. I am so tempted to go off but I will refrain to save face. My buddy Blackfive did a nice write-up today about Specialist Casey Sheehan. This is how I would appreciate his memory.
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31 Responses to “Some Random Thoughts”
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AS,
I believe that being a good soldier is in the blood. I for one appreciate your willingness to serve our country. You are a hero in my eyes because of what you have done in the past and also your wanting to serve in the future. Thank You so much!!
If it weren’t for soldiers like you, yes, where would we be?
:
Don’t worry, you will do fine with your surgery and when you get healed I’m sure the military will want you to serve again!!
AS–Thank you for your devotion to America. We LOVE you!!!! (Reserved my book. WooHoo! Can’t wait!)
Your sentence..”Dammit if it werent for soldiers” sums it all up. It is because of all soldiers we enjoy the awesome freedoms we have today, so thank-you will never be enough. In fact “Dammit, If it weren’t for soldiers” should be on yellow magnetic ribbons everywhere.
As for your family they all are just as much American Heroes as you for supporting you..May God Bless Them and You.
Cindy Sheehan is as much a patriot as you or me. No need for you to think about slamming her. Lift her up and demand that President Bush meet with her. He should meet with the spouse/parents of every single service member who has died since he launched this elective war in Iraq. He has, as the Commander in Chief, no higher duty and no weightier calling. It is, in fact, the very least he can (and must) do.
Ditto to everything Donna, CJ, & Julie said! From what I’ve learned over the years, it IS something “in your blood,” a calling of sorts.
“If it weren’t for soldiers like you, yes, where would we be?”
I agree absolutely!!!!!
Thanks to you and your family, for all you have done and continue to do on our behalf, and a big thank you to your family for sharing you with the nation.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{BIG HUGE HUGS TO ALL}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Oh yeah… GREAT article by Blackfive!
Wibubba,
Cindy has reasons to be upset. But her talking to the President, my Commander in Chief will not bring her son back. That is what she has said time after time. She wants an answer for his death. You are right; he ’should’ meet with every parent. But I’d rather my CIC be spending his time planning an exit strategy, ways to improve soldier’s lives and so on. I know you will be tempted to say that maybe he should spend less time on vacations and more time in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We don’t know what he is doing, so we can’t judge whether he is in Maine or in Washington.
The point being is I don’t want to slam her for being upset, but for the ‘Anti-War’ she is breeding. I won’t stand for it. If you are against the war then you are against me.
I have a good friend who thinks about going back all the time. I don’t know what it is. If it’s the sense of serving or the adrenaline rush but he can’t stop thinking and scheming of ways to go/get sent back over there. I wish I could compete with those thoughts but as a mere woman I can’t. I hope he and you find a way to quench that thirst.
Cindy has reasons to be upset. But her talking to the President, my Commander in Chief will not bring her son back. That is what she has said time after time. She wants an answer for his death. You are right; he ’should’ meet with every parent. But I’d rather my CIC be spending his time planning an exit strategy, ways to improve soldier’s lives and so on. I know you will be tempted to say that maybe he should spend less time on vacations and more time in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We don’t know what he is doing, so we can’t judge whether he is in Maine or in Washington.
The point being is I don’t want to slam her for being upset, but for the ‘Anti-War’ she is breeding. I won’t stand for it. If you are against the war then you are against me.
AS…..
Yeah…she won’t get her son back…that’s true. It’s also irrelevant. She wants an answer. She wants to vent. She wants to express her opinion to the one guy who is most responsible for her son being dead. It was President Bush’s decision to launch this war. It was his decision to challenge the insurgents with the whole “Bring em on” comment. And it was his idea to cherry pick the intel to support his theory. For all of this he’s responsible.
Conservatives are big on “personal responsibility.” Doesn’t, and shouldn’t, that hold true for your own elected leaders? And couldn’t President Bush take personal responsibility by meeting with those families who have laid their son/daughter, husband/wife, etc. on the sacrificial altar of American service?
If you believe that the President is in TX or DC planning the exit strategy or looking for ways to make soldiers lives better then your pretty naive. There are a boatload of people doing that. The president plans less and reviews the plans of others more often. I’ll repeat that he has no higher duty than to meet with the families of those who have laid down their lives for this war. If he’s as much of a patriot as he says he is, this wouldn’t even be an issue. He’d have heard Cindy Sheehan’s request, granted it immediately, and we’d all have moved on by now.
No, I don’t bring up the vacations. Every president takes them. Sure, this one maybe a little more than most. But I also know that they have sat. phones, video links, etc and he’s just as plugged in down in Texas as he is in the Oval Office. I think the less time he spends near DC the better. It’s a stressful job for anyone to take on.
You won’t “stand for” the anti-war stance? How is that? You’re a “love it or leave it” type of guy? “If you are against the war then you are against me.” Huh? You’re not serious are you? I’m very much against this war. We got in for the wrong reasons. We left Afghanistan halfway through the mission. OBL is still out there somewhere…planning….plotting….putting resources in place. Saddam Hussein, while a really bad scumbag tyrant, presented no direct threat to this nation. And still we invaded a sovreign state without provocation.
I put it this way…I’m for every member of the armed forces getting everything they need to get the damn job done and get back home ASAP. If it takes another $100 billion to get the tools into the right hands then so be it. Get em all the bombs, bullets, and beans they need. And when they come home stand up, salute each one of them, and give em a round of applause. And make sure the VA is fully funded. Make sure the necessary medical, psychological, and emotional care is there for each and every one of them.
And to really honor those who serve we should demand answers to the nagging questions of how we got embroiled in this mess in the first place. Those who fudged the intelligence, those who relied on half-reports to make thier own theories look factual, those who will profit from this war at the expense of those who serve should all be hauled before the American people, and the American Veterans to be held accountable. They should be made an example of. And if the evidence warrants they should be tried as war criminals at the Hague. IF the evidence warrants. To do less is to do a disservice to those who have served. To do less is to slap the face of every single American Veteran. To do less is simply less than American.
This is not a monarchy. It’s not a dictatorship. It’s a representative republic. It’s a democracy (sort of). No one person is higher than the law. No leader is leading by divine right.
wibubba,
I’m not going to argue with you. You are on the opposite side of the fence. You have the right to say as you wish. I am sure you are aware of the sacrifices that being made for that right. In Iraq or anywhere. It serves its purpose.
Just can’t formulate a reasonable rational response huh?
I have that effect on conservatives all the time.
Reminds me of two bumper stickers I saw on the way to work this morning. What made it really ironic, is that both of these were on the SAME CAR:
Bumper Sticker #1: “As long as oprression & tyranny exists anywhere, we are never truly free.”
Bumber Sticker #2: “War is not the answer!”
Huh?!
: 
LOL OK, so war should not be the very first thing we jump to to solve a conflict ~ BUT sometimes it IS necessary, IMHO. And I do think we are currently doing the right thing.
Wibubba,
I have no problem articulating or formulating a response. So here is my quick answer to you trying to throw your trash onto my site.
Go fuck yourself!
Don’t think you feel special. I’ve treated pricks like you that way since the beginning of this blog. I’m not about to stop either. Come here and act a fool and I will give you an old Soldier treatment.
I’m sure you will have a need to respond naturally. So don’t feel bad if I ban your IP and make it so you can’t post again here. Sorry but Anti-War shit isn’t happening here.
Go troll some boards that take kindly to your type. If you want to debate in an articulate manner, send me an email. I will return your email with my response.
AS,
I don’t think the feeling of wanting to serve ever leaves those who have joined up. My Dad was in the service for 20 years and 28 years after retiring, his first thought after 9-11 was to join up again.
To you and all who serve so willingly and courageously, thank you.
It’s because of men like you that I can go to work without living in terror. It’s the work you do that keeps oppression and terror out of our back yard and where the conflict began, has always been and where it needs to be.
I lost all my loved ones on 9/11 and could have, like so many around me, easily asked why. I didn’t, because I knew when they attacked the USS Cole they were emboldened and would stop at nothing to get to us. I had seen it repeatedly in the Philippines and in Indonesia, I knew we could not be safe for long.
Thank you for your love of country, your service and please thank your family, for their enormous sacrifice and great courage. They are in my prayers.
CS has had her time in the sun - and she already had her meeting with Bush too - AND her son’s family came out in a direct statement against her actions. I sincerely regret her loss - and because of my own personal investment in the OIF situation, I have not felt - but I understand her pain. I hope that she will move past the negativity and choose to honor her son’s memory in more admirable ways.
Keep doing what you are doing, will your book have more mainstream distribution, or is it only available through this website?
Have you had your surgery yet?
Al’s Girl,
The book will be available through LBF Books & Amazon as well. You should also see it at your local B&N. Maybe ask your local B&N manager to order it.
Surgery is in 3 weeks.
American Soldier,
As I read your last reply to Wibubba I was relieved becasue I was sending the exact sentiments. So, I hope he likes it, because he can go do it a 2nd time.
I myself returned in April 2004 after a year in Iraq and almost daily I still think of returning. I believe that I always will feel this way and accepted that it is normal to do so. Keeping up the fight is not always being there. Hang Tough!
DEAR SIR,
YOU CAN BE AGAINST THE WAR BUT SUPPORT ARE TROOPS AT THE SAME TIME, MY HUSBAND IS SERVING HIS 2ND 12 MNTH TOUR IN IRAQ NOW AND ITS HIS 3RD TOUR THERE ALL TOGETHER,
I HAVE A SON SERVING HIS 2ND 12 MNTH TOUR THERE AS WELL AND MY SON-N-LAW IS GETTING READY TO GO TO IRAQ FOR HIS 2ND TOUR. SO YES I VERY MUCH SUPPORT ARE TROOPS AND WHAT THEY DO AND WHAT THEY’VE DONE SINCE THE BEGINING OF THIS WAR. BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN I HAVE TO SUPPORT THIS WAR, MY HUSBAND, MY SON, MY SON-N-LAW, YOU AND EVERY OTHER SOLDIER FIGHTING AND DYING GIVE ME AND EVERYONE ELSE THAT FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
BEING FOR OR AGAINST THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF IS ALSO A FREEDOM OF CHOICE WE HAVE.
AND STILL SUPPORT ARE TROOPS.
DEDICATED ARMY WIFE AND MOM
I laughed out loud when I read your reply to Wibubba, That’s what we should tell all the “politically correct” losers!
Cindy Sheehan already met with the President once. If she had something to say, that’s when she should have said it…..without that scumbag Michael Moore.
Does that blasted female not understand that her son, Casey Sheehan, Volunteered??? Casey chose to go to war, because it was what he believed to be right! And all his worthless mother can do is completely undermine her own sons belief while desecrating his grave, in the process of preaching from her tower that Dubya is the #1 terrorist.
Nobody said she doesn’t have a right to be scum. Lots of mothers have lost their children, and you don’t see them makin a grand stand on their childs grave just to further their political agenda. Disgusting.
Sorry I can’t keep quiet, , so Wibubba, get your facts straight…no one has left Afghanistan, if you paid attention to what is really going on instead of whinning and twisting facts you would know that 1000s of brave American men and women are over there right now, risking their lives to protect your your sorry butt.
AS.. Thanks for letting me vent.
Well, Chad just took the words from my mouth so I’ll add, “dittos”. You are not alone in respecting our President and working to end the fight against terrorists. I truly don’t want a exit date set. I want us to situate in Iraq forever, or at least as long as we’ve been in Germany. What? 60 Years!
The Taliban is using a lot of our frustrated citizens for their own propaganda and I believe that until all Americans get behind the effort, the attacks will continue. If not on our shores, then perhaps our ships, or bases around the world. Some folks just can’t believe someone prays to kill them so they can immediately go to Heaven and be rewarded. Some folks think debate is the answer to resolve our differences. Some folks are just not reading up on these people who want the world to be theirs and their religion only.
I understand Mr. Sheehan has filed for a divorce also. It’s a shame what some folks will do for their 15-minutes of fame.
Take care and may God continue blessing you and all our country.
It is a shame that the heroic sacrifice of Casey Sheehan has been lost in the media circus created in Crawford. He is to be honored. I understand the grief, but cannot understand the reasoning behind “withdraw the troops now”. It guarantees that the lives lost in the war will have been in vain. Do the protesters think we can just declare peace on the terrorists and they will leave us alone? I’m so grateful for the wisdom of those who can see the bigger picture and are willing to do the hard stuff on our behalf.
I just found your blog via Blackfive and plan to be a regular visitor. Loved your response to Wibubba!!!!!!!
Thank you and all the “willing Soldiers” for what you have done and continue to do to keep us safe and free!
p.s. Your little daughter sounds precious!
I do not doubt for one moment most Americans sincere love of their country. What beats me is why they think that going to Iraq to kill Iraqis (innocent and not so innocent) will benefit their country. True, Iraqis are not as well organized or productive as Americans. Their institutions do not function very well. Many of them tend to be corrupt. But what makes you think that you can change all that, or that Iraqis are longing for you to change their ways? Democracy can never be imposed on anyone. Either you see the point of it and adopt it, or you don’t. Wanting to go to Iraq for solidarity with you fellow soldiers is like commiting suicide because one of your closest friends killed himself. The only positive thing Americans can do, in relation to Iraq, is leaving Iraq as soon as possible. If nothing else, it would stop the killing of American soldiers.
By the way, the way Wibubba was treated was very democratic. No doubt I will be treated the same way, in the name of freedom. But if that is the sort of democracy you are hoping to install in Iraq, is it so surprising that Iraqis are reluctant?…
Albatroz wrote: “Democracy can never be imposed on anyone. Either you see the point of it and adopt it, or you don’t.”
Democracy cannot be imposed on anyone, but a brutal dictatorship can. The Iraqi people have suffered oppression, torture, and murder under Saddam Hussein for decades. Those same people were supposed to “see the point of democracy and adopt it”? That’s like saying to a woman who has been brutally raped, why she didn’t just say “no”. In our own American history, our democracy was formed after years of struggle and war.
If you get information from sources other than just the mainstream media, you might be surprised at how welcoming the majority of the Iraqi people are. But you certainly won’t hear that on the nightly news. And one has to wonder why that’s the case….they are either negligent in their job or it doesn’t fit their agenda.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOLLOWS:
Remember “Gulf War syndrome” from Persian Gulf War One? I found out what it is: depleted uranium poisoning. See, the Department of Defense still claims it’s harmless and uses it now more than ever, in Abrams tank armor, in tank gun rounds (b/c it is so dense a metal), in 30mm cannon ammunition fired by A-10 ‘Warthogs’ and a myriad of other uses I’m not privy to. Does the 25mm Bushmaster chain gun used on the Bradley and the Marines’ LAV-25 fire depleted uranium ammo too? I don’t know; if I had to guess I’d say it probably does. The worst part is depleted uranium dust which is blowing in the wind all over Iraq. A single particle of it lodged in your respiratory system is cancer-causing. So far, over 200,000 vets of Gulf War One have filed for disability from being crippled by it and are in various stages of miserable death. Several thousand have already died from it. It also afflicts their spouses and even causes their babies to be born with grotesque birth defects!
So how about that? The Department of Defense is “supporting the troops” by first poisoning you all, and then denying it knows what the “mystery illness” is. There’s a reason it’s against the Geneva Conventions. The callous disregard for its own troops is appalling. Every soldier, marine, sailor and airman should be outraged. Please pass this information on to everyone you can.
I totally agree with you. I came home on leave from Mosul last July. I got sick while on leave and had to go to Ft. Dix i was stuck there till April of this year. I feel taht I owe 6 months in Iraq cause I didnt finish up my “tour”. I missed the homecomming and felt cheated, I went to walter Reed for a Dr. Apt and felt like a Pussy cause my sickness was nothing in comparrison to what those Heros went through. I joke about it all the time and say stuff that i know that i shouldnt. My wife hates it. I too have a 2 yr old thats what keeps my head straight if it wernt for her id be back there…..
My husband feels the same way abotu going back, he came home after a year tour in April 2004….and he feel sbad for his “brothers” that are still over there fighting, so I understand your need and desire to go back. Thanks goodness for men adn women like you!
Oh yeah, way to go, tell the “tree huggers off!” I can’t stand them! LOL!