Monday, October 30, 2006
101 US Soldiers dead this month in Iraq and one mother still weeps
One hundred and one soldiers have been killed this month in Iraq. That number may not seem like a lot to those who support this war, but for myself and others the number signifies a tragedy.
When one soldier dies, a whole community mourns and will so for years to come.
Today I met an extraordinary elderly woman in her early 80’s. She is the sister of one of my housecleaning customers who is 70 and is currently fighting a terminal disease (scholeraderma…in her case her lungs are hardening). My customer was not there because she went to the hospital last night because she had stopped breathing. Betty came by the house to do a load of laundry and to make dinner for her sister’s husband for when he gets home.
It wasn’t too long until her and I started up a conversation. She told me she’s going to miss her sister when she dies (she has less than 6 weeks to live and this is why I’ve been called in to help too) and was concerned for Mary’s husband who is not well himself. I asked her if her husband was alive and she suddenly got very quiet. I felt kind of uncomfortable because I thought that maybe I had asked something too personal after only knowing her for an hour.
She said, “My husband died in the Vietnam war”. After a few seconds of pause, I gave her my condolences and she said, “Everytime I turn on the news today and I hear that a soldier has died in this rotten, stinking Iraq war, I cry for the mothers and the families who have to deal with this type of loss. A death from war is not the same as a death in a car accident. Our children are not in our country when they die and they die without their family near them.”
Betty, whom I had only known for an hour at least, and I cried together this afternoon. She’s right when she says that having a loved one die in a war, even when the family knows it is a possibility, is a tragedy and it’s a tragedy that continues for a lifetime for the family affected.
Betty still longs for her husband and I could see it in her eyes. I asked her how her husband had died. She said he was on an aircraft that had just loaded up with bombs and had just taken off to drop bombs on a village when a huge gust of wind tore the plane apart (apparently the planes back then were made cheaply because they went through so many during the Vietnam war) and it crashed. Betty’s husband and the others who were on that flight did not survive. What still haunts Betty today is that there were no remains of her husband to be buried. She misses him terribly and has spent the last 38 years single and plans to remain that way until she dies.
So, one hundred and one deaths in the month of October 2006 is a huge number to those of us who don’t understand what noble cause the Iraq war is being fought for and those of us who don’t understand what war is good for.
Being with Betty today made me realize that there are thousands of people in our country connected to these soldiers who have sacrificed and they are going through exactly what Betty has gone through all these years. She understands their pain and now so do I.
When one soldier dies, a whole community mourns and will so for years to come.
Today I met an extraordinary elderly woman in her early 80’s. She is the sister of one of my housecleaning customers who is 70 and is currently fighting a terminal disease (scholeraderma…in her case her lungs are hardening). My customer was not there because she went to the hospital last night because she had stopped breathing. Betty came by the house to do a load of laundry and to make dinner for her sister’s husband for when he gets home.
It wasn’t too long until her and I started up a conversation. She told me she’s going to miss her sister when she dies (she has less than 6 weeks to live and this is why I’ve been called in to help too) and was concerned for Mary’s husband who is not well himself. I asked her if her husband was alive and she suddenly got very quiet. I felt kind of uncomfortable because I thought that maybe I had asked something too personal after only knowing her for an hour.
She said, “My husband died in the Vietnam war”. After a few seconds of pause, I gave her my condolences and she said, “Everytime I turn on the news today and I hear that a soldier has died in this rotten, stinking Iraq war, I cry for the mothers and the families who have to deal with this type of loss. A death from war is not the same as a death in a car accident. Our children are not in our country when they die and they die without their family near them.”
Betty, whom I had only known for an hour at least, and I cried together this afternoon. She’s right when she says that having a loved one die in a war, even when the family knows it is a possibility, is a tragedy and it’s a tragedy that continues for a lifetime for the family affected.
Betty still longs for her husband and I could see it in her eyes. I asked her how her husband had died. She said he was on an aircraft that had just loaded up with bombs and had just taken off to drop bombs on a village when a huge gust of wind tore the plane apart (apparently the planes back then were made cheaply because they went through so many during the Vietnam war) and it crashed. Betty’s husband and the others who were on that flight did not survive. What still haunts Betty today is that there were no remains of her husband to be buried. She misses him terribly and has spent the last 38 years single and plans to remain that way until she dies.
So, one hundred and one deaths in the month of October 2006 is a huge number to those of us who don’t understand what noble cause the Iraq war is being fought for and those of us who don’t understand what war is good for.
Being with Betty today made me realize that there are thousands of people in our country connected to these soldiers who have sacrificed and they are going through exactly what Betty has gone through all these years. She understands their pain and now so do I.
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Kay, how very, very sad and how tragically pointless. I have a friend who came back with P.T.S.D. It's really horrible.
This is just one of thousands of such stories. Can anyone tell me WHY?
This is just one of thousands of such stories. Can anyone tell me WHY?
It's the old story of selfish and power-mad men who must rule at all cost -- usually to others. That, I'm afraid, is as much a part of human nature as the desire to love and be loved, and will always be.
All we can do is set the example and hope that others will follow. Some will, and some won't... simple as that.
All we can do is set the example and hope that others will follow. Some will, and some won't... simple as that.
# posted by 
: 10/31/2006 03:51:00 PM
: 10/31/2006 03:51:00 PM
Right on Mike and "Rocky" (kill that troll yet? LMAO)!!
General Smedley Butler was correct when he said years ago that war is a racket and all wars are started by wealthy men for THEIR greed alone. They don't start wars to help out their citizens. They start wars to line their pockets and they use our soldiers as pawns in their game.
Spit. I hate the Pigs who chose to go to war in Iraq, a country, which had nothing to do with 9/11 nor the war on terror. Disgusting.
General Smedley Butler was correct when he said years ago that war is a racket and all wars are started by wealthy men for THEIR greed alone. They don't start wars to help out their citizens. They start wars to line their pockets and they use our soldiers as pawns in their game.
Spit. I hate the Pigs who chose to go to war in Iraq, a country, which had nothing to do with 9/11 nor the war on terror. Disgusting.
Kay, I just reposted " A Soldier's Story". I don't recall if you saw it the first time.
Prepare to spit.
Prepare to spit.
This is just CRIMINAL. The needless loss of life to satisfy a few rich men and their lust for money, power & war.
These are the kinds of stories I hope people think of when they vote next week.
Thanks for sharing this Kay.
These are the kinds of stories I hope people think of when they vote next week.
Thanks for sharing this Kay.
# posted by : 11/01/2006 10:49:00 AM
: 11/01/2006 10:49:00 AM
Ha! Don't worry about our little Muffster, Kay... he's got his hands full with other trolls following him around and nipping at his ass! They really do not co-exist well, these cyberspace elves!
Whenever I see these tributes to fallen soldiers, I have mixed feelings. Having once worn a uniform myself, I can understand the patriotic emotionalism that attends military service -- especially with the very young. But it doesn't change the facts; this war was not wanted or justified (except by the power-brokers) and it certainly doesn't warrant sending good soldiers to be butchered for a cause, that if were properly analyzed, amounts to nothing more than another attempt by globalist tyrants to expand their economic and socialist empire.
A standing army's best service (and this has been proven time and again at GREAT cost) is accomplished in a defensive role at home, not in so-called "police actions" abroad. Those have usually always resulted in bad press for America, and a lot of dead soldiers for no good cause and certainly no lasting peace.
I know that if there were armed gangs roaming my neighborhood, my place would be home protecting my family, not off across town protecting another man's!
Even if there was an outside threat, (and I'm convinced it was more of an INSIDE one) it doesn't warrant invading a sovereign country and blowing it to smithereens to root out a few bad actors that may, or may not, have been the instigators of any terrorist attacks. What was the civilian tally for this war... 600,000? If the roles were reversed, what would we think of the "benefit" of having an occupying force with that price tag attached?
(I think) the 'boys' should tell their "Commander-in-Chief" to take a flying leap and beat it the hell out of there before his idiotic policies land more of them in coffins.
Whenever I see these tributes to fallen soldiers, I have mixed feelings. Having once worn a uniform myself, I can understand the patriotic emotionalism that attends military service -- especially with the very young. But it doesn't change the facts; this war was not wanted or justified (except by the power-brokers) and it certainly doesn't warrant sending good soldiers to be butchered for a cause, that if were properly analyzed, amounts to nothing more than another attempt by globalist tyrants to expand their economic and socialist empire.
A standing army's best service (and this has been proven time and again at GREAT cost) is accomplished in a defensive role at home, not in so-called "police actions" abroad. Those have usually always resulted in bad press for America, and a lot of dead soldiers for no good cause and certainly no lasting peace.
I know that if there were armed gangs roaming my neighborhood, my place would be home protecting my family, not off across town protecting another man's!
Even if there was an outside threat, (and I'm convinced it was more of an INSIDE one) it doesn't warrant invading a sovereign country and blowing it to smithereens to root out a few bad actors that may, or may not, have been the instigators of any terrorist attacks. What was the civilian tally for this war... 600,000? If the roles were reversed, what would we think of the "benefit" of having an occupying force with that price tag attached?
(I think) the 'boys' should tell their "Commander-in-Chief" to take a flying leap and beat it the hell out of there before his idiotic policies land more of them in coffins.
# posted by : 11/01/2006 12:57:00 PM
: 11/01/2006 12:57:00 PM
I totally agree Rocky!!! Thanks so much for your last post. It's an absolute tragedy that in modern times men still feel the need to wage war to line their own pockets. Enough is enough.
Let's vote their asses out on Tuesday! Woohoo!!!! I personally can't wait to vote. :-)
Let's vote their asses out on Tuesday! Woohoo!!!! I personally can't wait to vote. :-)
I had to live with this possibility for a number of months.
My sig. other's youngest brother was in Iraq for about a year. Everytime I heard the news of a soldier's death, my heart stopped. (Prime's family was dealing with one loss: his younger brother had just died of cancer. If the youngest had died....)
Thankfully, he got out alive. I'm blessed. But I want out troops out of there now. No one should have to live with that fear and pain. If Bush wants the job finished, he can get off his ass and do it his damn self.
Bring our sons and daughters home.
NOW.
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My sig. other's youngest brother was in Iraq for about a year. Everytime I heard the news of a soldier's death, my heart stopped. (Prime's family was dealing with one loss: his younger brother had just died of cancer. If the youngest had died....)
Thankfully, he got out alive. I'm blessed. But I want out troops out of there now. No one should have to live with that fear and pain. If Bush wants the job finished, he can get off his ass and do it his damn self.
Bring our sons and daughters home.
NOW.
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