Hardest Job in the Military

[bumps2]

This really drives home the saying "freedom isn't free". No political bashing please, just keep all our military personnel in your thoughts and prayers.

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/iraq_war_families/

[bumps2]

This really drives home the saying "freedom isn't free". No political bashing please, just keep all our military personnel in your thoughts and prayers.

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/iraq_war_families/

[John in Mn]

Wow. Thanks for posting that. The pics on page 4 & 5 sure choke up a guy.....

[John in Mn]

Wow. Thanks for posting that. The pics on page 4 & 5 sure choke up a guy.....

[Far Beyond Driven]

I'm hoping there was some anti-war pacifist looking down from those jet windows realizing that dead soldier gives them the freedom to be an anti-war pacifist.....

FBD, Holland, MI

[Far Beyond Driven]

I'm hoping there was some anti-war pacifist looking down from those jet windows realizing that dead soldier gives them the freedom to be an anti-war pacifist.....

FBD, Holland, MI

[hgmeyer]

The hardest job I had was leading my platoon into harm's way, knowing that they were depending on me to make all of the right decisions... And, knowing that time after time I would not get it right... I wrote too many letters home to loved ones of men, most really just big boys like me, trying to communicate my personal feelings about them. But, I visited only one family after coming back home... I had silently promised to visit them all... But, after that one visit I could not do it again... As hard as it was to be with them when they died, as hard as it was to write those letters... Looking into the eyes of that family knowing that if I had done my job better that boy might still be alive... The Officers that make the notifications and then stay with the family through the funerals have one of the toughest jobs in the Corps... God Bles them because I know I could not do it...

[hgmeyer]

The hardest job I had was leading my platoon into harm's way, knowing that they were depending on me to make all of the right decisions... And, knowing that time after time I would not get it right... I wrote too many letters home to loved ones of men, most really just big boys like me, trying to communicate my personal feelings about them. But, I visited only one family after coming back home... I had silently promised to visit them all... But, after that one visit I could not do it again... As hard as it was to be with them when they died, as hard as it was to write those letters... Looking into the eyes of that family knowing that if I had done my job better that boy might still be alive... The Officers that make the notifications and then stay with the family through the funerals have one of the toughest jobs in the Corps... God Bles them because I know I could not do it...

[The Democrat]

The hardest job in the military is being the guy in the casket, and the infantry (Army and USMC) always contributes more of those than any other military job classification. For this reason, I've always reserved my greatest respect for those who serve (or served) in the infantry. They bear the greatest hardships, do the hardest fighting, are in the most danger, and do the most dying.

Far Beyond Driven, I guess it depends on whether a war is necessary. As a Christian, I think peace is good, and war is bad. I also realize sometimes peace isn't possible and it's necessary to fight. Reasonable people are not afraid to debate issues of war and peace. To stereotype those who oppose war (or a particular war), well, speaks for itself.

[The Democrat]

The hardest job in the military is being the guy in the casket, and the infantry (Army and USMC) always contributes more of those than any other military job classification. For this reason, I've always reserved my greatest respect for those who serve (or served) in the infantry. They bear the greatest hardships, do the hardest fighting, are in the most danger, and do the most dying.

Far Beyond Driven, I guess it depends on whether a war is necessary. As a Christian, I think peace is good, and war is bad. I also realize sometimes peace isn't possible and it's necessary to fight. Reasonable people are not afraid to debate issues of war and peace. To stereotype those who oppose war (or a particular war), well, speaks for itself.

[ERIE REBEL]

Okay guys after seeing this and shedding back a few tears what happens if Iraq DOES have a civil war???? Who do we defend?? WHO do we OFFEND??? It seems to me that it is Catch 22 all over again.GOD BLESS AMERICA and ALL THAT DEFEND HER!!!

[ERIE REBEL]

Okay guys after seeing this and shedding back a few tears what happens if Iraq DOES have a civil war???? Who do we defend?? WHO do we OFFEND??? It seems to me that it is Catch 22 all over again.GOD BLESS AMERICA and ALL THAT DEFEND HER!!!

[Democrat Unlogged]

We Americans have been, ahem, civilized for so long that we don't realize much of humanity hasn't advanced beyond tribalism. You know -- "I'm gonna kill you because you're from a different tribe (or street gang, or whatever)!" Iraq is not a country, it's three tribes thrown together inside arbitrary borders drawn on a map by Europeans for the latter's convenience, and it could only be held together by force. Now that the strongman is gone (and good riddance; nobody should shed a tear when he stretches a rope), it's all coming apart. Now ask yourself if you want to be in the middle when the rival Iraqi factions go at each other?

Back in 1970, after I came home from Vietnam, I was driving through the south side of Chicago. I was stopped at a red light in a seedy part of town. Off to my left was a vacant lot. There were two rows of young men lined up on opposite ends of the vacant lot, and just as the light turned green, they started running toward each other. Some of them had pipes, chains, and boards. And I thought, "I want to be somewhere else ... "

[Democrat Unlogged]

We Americans have been, ahem, civilized for so long that we don't realize much of humanity hasn't advanced beyond tribalism. You know -- "I'm gonna kill you because you're from a different tribe (or street gang, or whatever)!" Iraq is not a country, it's three tribes thrown together inside arbitrary borders drawn on a map by Europeans for the latter's convenience, and it could only be held together by force. Now that the strongman is gone (and good riddance; nobody should shed a tear when he stretches a rope), it's all coming apart. Now ask yourself if you want to be in the middle when the rival Iraqi factions go at each other?

Back in 1970, after I came home from Vietnam, I was driving through the south side of Chicago. I was stopped at a red light in a seedy part of town. Off to my left was a vacant lot. There were two rows of young men lined up on opposite ends of the vacant lot, and just as the light turned green, they started running toward each other. Some of them had pipes, chains, and boards. And I thought, "I want to be somewhere else ... "

[rock2me]

If that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you're not human.

God Bless.

[rock2me]

If that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you're not human.

God Bless.

[jarhead]

>If that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you're not human.
>
>God Bless.


I'm human

[jarhead]

>If that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you're not human.
>
>God Bless.


I'm human

[karpbuster]

Me too...thanks for the post.

karpbuster

[G. Gray]

To All those now serving, Thank You!

To all those who have served, Thank You!

And to All those of you, who have Supported those who have, and are now serving, THANK YOU !!

Our Troops now, are up against the hardest fight of all, and when they come home, they are going to need our Support even more. Everyday, when I watch Fox News, and see that there are more fallen troops, and then there is something that comes on, to protest the fighting, or this war, it makes me sick, to think, that the media, would even have the balls, to put it on at the same time.

Remember this, we did not start this war, it was brought to us, REMEMBER 911, I think, every morning, every night, the pictures of the Twin Towers crashing to the ground, or the plane flying into them, should be shown, as a Reminder, of WHO BROUGHT THE WAR TO WHO.

I served 21 1/2 yrs, mostly Mech Inf, Mortars, and scouts, but then went on to recruiting. I enlisted a lot of kids, and watched a lot of them go to the first Gulf conflict. Boy, do they grow up in a hurry. I also did 51 burial details over the 21 1/2 yrs, presented 26 flags to mothers, wives, and children.

So take a minute, thank God, and thank those soldiers, for the Freedom we now have, and most of all, remember what they are fighting for, US !!

WHEN SOLDIERS IN YOUR AREA COME HOME, PLEAE, MAKE IT A POINT, TO MEET AND GREET, AND THANK THEM, FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE FOR US.

GIVE THEM, THE HERO'S WELCOME THEY SO DESRVE, AND THEN A HUG !

Gary Gray

[texrig]

This is one of the best post I have read. Mr Gray your post was great and so true. A Army Dad

[Democrat UL]

With all respect to our soldiers -- and they have my greatest respect, and will have my support for things like medical care and veterans benefits when they come home -- Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11.

And, if you're not willing to discuss an issue like war and peace on the basis of facts and reason, and have to attack people who disagree with you on whether a given war is a good idea or a mistake, then you must not have much confidence in your argument.

But there should never, ever be any argument over what we owe our fighting troops! We owe them respect, gratitude, and true support in the form of the best weapons and equipment our tax money can buy, and the veterans benefits we promised them.

[Fryer Tuck]

The Kinzua Allegheny Walleye Association will be hosting a disabled veterans tournament on the Allegheny Reservoir May 13 - 14. Last year we raised over $16000.00 for the DAV. Info is on there website @ www.kinzua-walleye.com . It's a great cause. If you can make it, come on down and I promise you will love it.

Hope to see ya
Doug Yohe
N.P.A.A
#894

[SUPERTROLLER]

Saddam brought this war and his collapse on himself by not allowing U.N. inspections as mandated by the treaty that ended the First Gulf War in Iraq. He repeatedly denied access to inspectors and we should have blasted anything he didn't allow us to see. "Got anything else you don't think we need to look at?" (LOL) We gave him too many years to move, hide, dismantle; whatever they did with their Weapons of Mass Destruction. There were alot of people from around the world that believed that they still had or possibly still do have WMD. All the intelligence pointed to the very real possibility that they still had them. Saddam could have very easily placated the Western military powers by allowing uninterrupted inspections of suspected military sites. He declined and told us to go pound sand. After many U.N. sanctions had been handed out against his country and World opinion meant nothing to him, there was little choice but to remove the believed threat to the rest of the civilized people of the planet. Now that we're there, all of the sudden everyone says,"but wait a minute, where's the WMD?" I say who cares? They didn't live up to the agreement to end the first war and and thus brought the resulting war upon themselves. Does a U.N. without any teeth really have any power to sway world opinion and make World Security decisions? Can any little crack-pot dictator laugh at the Super Powers and do as he pleases without ramifications? Can he harbor terrorists or assist them with funding and do so with impugnity? I guess not, not anymore. Do you also notice Mohammar Quadafi in Libya offered unfettered inspections in Libya soon after our toppling of Saddam? Is that just a coincidence that he wanted to come clean all of the sudden? Threats without any real perceived power to follow through are just that, empty threats. That is what emboldened Osama bin Laden after all of his exploits over the years. We never did anything to him, so he thought we were weak and spineless when we didn't follow-up after the USS Cole bombing. He finally went too far and Bush let the genie out of the bottle. Hopefully we don't have to keep him out for too much longer to make a lasting impression to those that would harm us or try to cause further world wide chaos and religious warfare. We didn't start this. "They" did. They being anyone that promotes world terror. Saddam fit the bill,,, at least in my humble opinion. Thank goodness, you are free to disagree.

[gunrac]

Great post. We were in attendance when our son graduated bootcamp in Fort Jackson with over 300 of his comrade's this past Nov. That was when the reality really soaked in. WOW! What a tear jerker that was for us knowing that all of these young men and women our willing to put there lives in harm's way to help protect and serve our country. GOD BLESS THEM ALL


NEVER APOLOGIZE....
AS IT SHOWS SIGNS OF WEAKNESS
HAWG ON, SEA YA

[Gilligan unlogged]

Thanks for the link. It took me over an hour to go through it trying to hide back tears around coworkers.

Gary Gray...
Great response.

[karpbuster]

Who's arguing? I agree with you in that you respect our troops, so do I. That's enough for now. Lets keep this post going so everyone can see it.

karpbuster

[MN_Moose]

As hard as that job is, I'm glad there are those who accept the responsibility. I'm glad to see that our fallen are shown the honor and respect due them.

[firetech]

My heart goes out to all the sad Dads that live this tragity. Reading this post caused great tears and sadness in my heart as my son is in the Navy in that part of the world. I miss him dearly. We have not spoken since his deployment has left about the 1st of Jan. but a few e-mails have made it thru. I rember the week end after 911 we left home to get away from the TV and the sad news. We went salmon fishing on a northern Michigan river it was a great day,thats when he told me he wanted to go serve. He's been gone allmost four years now. When he comes home we try to get some time on the water. God Bless this Great Land of ours and keep our Boys and Girls safe.

[Mt-1]

Here's another.
http://multimedia.rockymountainnews.com/slideshow/slideshow.cfm?type=DEFAULT&ID=012006lundstrom&NUM=1

[Dem UL]

If the argument for getting rid of Saddam is that he was a tinpot thug, well, then you have a good case. The countervailing is that toppling him created a power vacuum that opened the door for civil war between Iraq's factions and destabilized the region. One might also note that we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble if we hadn't armed him in the first place -- an awful lot of that stuff we went over there to take away from him had "Made in USA" stamped on it.

[Dem UL]

In any event, nobody will shed a tear when he stretches a rope.

[John in Mn]

"One might also note that we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble if we hadn't armed him in the first place -- an awful lot of that stuff we went over there to take away from him had "Made in USA" stamped on it."

Really? Where can I read more about your statement?

[Apple Guy]

Democrat, Your comment "Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11" While even though a commission came out and said Iraq had nothing to to with 9/11 even though they still had some facts pointing to Saddam helping key terrorist and some other evidence as a whole they said Saddam was not involved. The Warren Commission comes to mind, can we really believe these commissions? I thought we went into Iraq for "weapons of mass destruction. Not because of 9/11. Isn't that right ??? Am I recalling this correctly? Every major intelligence organization agreed that they thought he had them. As we know now, he may have not, He may have too.

If I give you 1 month and 10 semi trailers and let you hide them in the state of California and have full access to shipping,billions of dollars and full control of a couple of a million people, I bet no matter how hard I try I will not find them. Then we have some democrats say "after the fact SEE SEE!! there are no weapons. Bush lied. Saddam was not involved with 9/11. Could that convoy of trucks that left Iraq for Syria, Could they have left that way? Bush lied. Lied about what?

[ERIE REBEL]

I'm not taking any politcal sides here but I always thought that young Bush has tried to finish what dad didn't. As far as Binladen and his boys,a short rope and a long drop can't come soon enough.THANK YOU again troops and GOD BLESS AMERICA

[The Democrat]

John, the problem is that our country has become so partisan that (a) it's getting harder to find objective sources of information, and (b) facts have become irrelevant to political discourse because most people believe what they want to hear, and dismiss information or arguments from the other side. If you google the question, "Who Armed Saddam?", you will get numerous hits on partisan web sites that argue, "America armed Saddam," or "no, we didn't."

Let's start with Wikipedia's article on the Iran-Iraq war, because it's concise and doesn't take sides: "The United States had been wary of the Tehran regime since the Iranian Revolution .... Starting in 1982 with Iranian success on the battlefield, the U.S. made its backing of Iraq more pronounced, supplying it with intelligence, economic aid, ... and allegedly also supplying weapons." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Iraq_War

Here are a couple of links to "left" leaning web sites whose content, however, consists of quoted excerpts from numerous mainstream news media sources:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/Reagan_WMD_Saddam.html
http://www.bnfp.org/neighborhood/jmoore.htm

United Press International is owned by Moonie cult leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who also owns the Washington Times. Moon is a right-winger, and the Moon-owned UPI and Washington Times cannot be considered "liberal media." Here is what UPI reported: " ... Saddam was seen by U.S. intelligence services as a bulwark of anti-communism and they used him as their instrument for more than 40 years, according to former U.S. intelligence diplomats and intelligence officials. United Press International has interviewed almost a dozen former U.S. diplomats, British scholars and former U.S. intelligence officials to piece together the following account. ... While many have thought that Saddam first became involved with U.S. intelligence agencies at the start of the September 1980 Iran-Iraq war, his first contacts with U.S. officials date back to 1959, when he was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad tasked with assassinating then Iraqi Prime Minister Gen. Abd al-Karim Qasim. ... According to current and former U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Iraq was then regarded as a key buffer and strategic asset in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. ... The CIA/Defense Intelligence Agency relation with Saddam intensified after the start of the Iran-Iraq war in September of 1980. During the war, the CIA regularly sent a team to Saddam to deliver battlefield intelligence obtained from Saudi AWACS surveillance aircraft to aid the effectiveness of Iraq's armed forces ...." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2849.htm

An Australian source describes the direct U.S. role in supplying Saddam with chemical weapons (the article also identifies other countries, such as France and Germany, also involved in arming Saddam but I have excerpt portions dealing with the U.S. role: "In the 1970s, Saddam approached the USSR, until then his conventional weapons supplier, to buy a plant to manufacture chemical weapons, but his request was refused. Saddam then began courting the West, and received a much more favourable response. An American company, Pfaulder Corporation of Rochester, New York, supplied the Iraqis with a blueprint in 1975, enabling them to construct their first chemical warfare plant. ... The United States took other steps to ensure that Saddam's rule was strengthened. Mobile phone systems were mainly in the military domain at the time, but the United States government approved the 1975 sale by the Karkar Corporation of San Francisco of a complete mobile telephone system. The system was to be used by the Ba'ath Party loyalists to protect the regime against any attempts to overthrow it. ... The United States also supplied Saddam with satellite pictures of Iranian positions during the Iran-Iraq war." http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/51/040.html

If you go to Free Republic or other right-wing partisan web sites, you will generally find denials of a U.S. role in the arming of Saddam. However, the fact that the U.S. allied itself with Iraq to a certain extent during the Iraq-Iran war has been so thoroughly documented by the news media, scholars, and other reputable sources that it really shouldn't be disputed by anyone. The task then becomes one of fleshing out the details of exactly what weapons Saddam had, and where he got them. If you are open-minded about it, and do your own research from internet sources, making an effort to avoid the partisan-biased sources of both right and left, I think you will eventually conclude that many countries, including Russia and the U.S., were involved -- and all of them miscalculated their ability to control Saddam.