'As Son Heads to War, Parents Ask Why'

[babylonsister]

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=750

Saturday, October 28th, 2006
'As Son Heads to War, Parents Ask Why' ... By Don and Marcia Flory

Des Moines Register

A day last week was a day of misery in our household. Our youngest son, a soldier in the 1st Cavalry, departed for Iraq - destination Baghdad. The only good we see is that more Americans are becoming opposed to this war.

From the beginning of the war, we agreed with the famous and elderly news commentator Walter Cronkite's assessment that "the decision to invade Iraq is the worst foreign-policy mistake the United States has ever made." Remember, Iraqis had nothing to do with 9/11. There were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq.

Our son enlisted in the Army in February of 2004. He signed a three-year contract and, after completing basic training, he was sent for a year on the DMZ in South Korea. He also has served 14 months stateside in Texas. Our son was scheduled to be discharged this June after completing his three-year enlistment contract.

Due to the rapid decline of young people stepping forward to enter the military, our son, along with thousands of other combat-weary troops, is being forced to extend his contract for another year. Why is it that our soldiers, who have honored their military commitments, are not in turn honored by our government? In essence, these brave men and women are forced into indentured contracts. Promises made to them by recruiters are null and void.
more...

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I bet there are 100's of other parents asking the same questions.

[MADem]

2. I feel sad for them, but their son is going to Eye-Rack because he didn't READ

the fine print, in addition to our gub-mint having a failed policy going on here.

It's a shame some kids are so naive that they don't actually READ what is put before them, and instead take the word of some guy whose career depends on his ability to enlist youngsters.

Kids who do read every line and demand accurate explanations are sometimes a recruiter's worst nightmare, but if the kid reads, questions, comprehends, and THEN signs, odds are good that kid is in for twenty at least.

[gaspee]

3. I have no sympathy for

Anyone who signed up for the military after the invasion if Iraq. Period. Empathy? Maybe... sympathy, no freaking way.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. K&R well I DO! as a Nam vet I KNOW how recruiters work on young people...

hell I signed up in '72 but it looked like they might draft me in the near future at the time and instead of dodging it like a Republican, I joined a branch that might keep them from strapping an M-16 on my young ass and dumping me in a jungle.

[gaspee]

10. As I said...

I have empathy, but not sympathy. When I was 18 years old, I knew well enough what would happen if you joined the military. He made a decision to join a military engaged in an active (or hot, if you prefer) war. When you volunteer for a military in wartime, you can assume you're going to war. To not assume so is naive.

To say you don't want to kill civilians is disengenious. Civiliams get killed in war. All war. I can't stress it enough. When you join a military in an active war of invasion and occupation with a civilian population, it is entirely forseable and predictible what will happen.

If people didn't sign up to fight this war, no matter what their excuse, there wouldn't BE a war. What would happen if they threw a war and no one came? but that wouldn't happen because there's enough idiotic assholes out there who think either they need to go kill the "ragheads" for their god or they think war is fun, we won't have to worry about what would happen if they threw a war and no one came. And unfortunately, it's the brainwashed (blind patriotism is brainwashing, IMHO) or the slow who suffer. You don't see too many college republicans signing up for this war they support, do you?

I have 7 cousins (1st cousins) in the military right now. Two of my cousins 23 and 24 year old brothers are about to be sent to Iraq, again. They joined up right after 9/11 -- them, and others like them, I am soooo angry for, it's eating me alive. They can't get out, whether they want to or not.

But for people who joined after the invasion of Iraq... no.

And if that pisses you off, sorry. I'm pissed off too. When I see the assholes on message boards talking about signing up for the military so they can go kill ragheads, it pisses me off more than you can imagine.

And my dad is a vietnam vet. He was there when I was born in '69. I don't know much else about it because he won't talk about it. Drafed, not a volunteer. He's an alcholic and missing a foot, thanks to that war. Funny none of my siblings have ever joined the military, but my cousins have. And not the ha-ha kind of funny.

[uppityperson]

7. I do.

A bit more from the article about him. "Zach is a young man with a conscience. He was a junior at Clinton High on that infamous day, Sept. 11, 2001. When he came home from school, he asked our permission to join the Army. We refused and said he had to finish high school first. Now that he is headed to war, his greatest fear is to have to shoot innocent civilians. Firsthand reports from fellow soldiers who have already served in Iraq indicate many more innocents are killed than are combatants. What is this war doing to our fine young men and women?"

[requiem99]

4. Remember, many people thought Iraq was a necessary war at the time.

Bush and company did a great job FLAT OUT LYING about all the facts leading up to Iraq. If you go to war on false information, how can you blame young kids who patriotically believe in their government and sign up to help? You cannot.

The abuse of that trust is a crime of such magnitude I can't even speak of it here.

[JohnnyLib2]

6. I salute these parents for speaking out,

knowing that they face disapproval, even from DUers.

[Quantess]

8. What are you talking about? (N / T)

[JohnnyLib2]

11. I assume they'll take flack from those who think it is unpatriotic

to question the system. And others who knock people for viewing the military as a once-honored career choice.

Sorry for the delay--been at work.

[gratuitous]

9. I don't have any words for you, Mr. and Mrs. Flory

It sounds like you had a pretty good idea from the get-go what this invasion was all about, and the reasons for opposing it. You can't answer for your son's choices once he is of age. Love him through, and hope for the best.

But also, keep in mind that it was the Bush administration and the Republican congress that betrayed your son's trust. Your son agreed to give up several years of his life, trusting that the leaders in Washington would not use him as a political pawn in a great game. The government has broken that trust, and it's up to your son whether he wants to continue honoring his end of the agreement. Unfortunately, all the law belongs on the side of the military and the government, which it must. But what's worth more to your son: Honoring his commitment and continuing his unwilling complicity with this international crime, or laying down his weapons and vowing to support war no more?

[bobbolink]

12. K&R