http://www.msnbc.com/news/1001847.asp?0cv=KB10Dec. 5 — President Bush’s surprise visit to see the troops last week hasn’t stopped the grousing over how he is handling the war dead.
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES for his job see Bush’s absence from soldiers’ funerals as great fodder for their cause. War opponents and media cynics accuse him of obfuscating the reality of the prolonged conflict. But what do the families of the dead soldiers themselves think?
As usual, reason lies outside the Beltway. There, you can also find grace in the face of tremendous sorrow. Take Denise Marshall of Georgia, for example. Her husband, John, is the oldest soldier to die in Iraq so far. The lifelong Army veteran was 50. “It takes a lot of mental preparation to be ready for something like his,” she says of his death.
The top brass at Fort Stewart, where the Marshall family (with its seven kids) is based, no doubt chose Denise to meet President Bush several weeks ago because of her composure. It was the first of a series of private meetings he has had with fallen soldiers’ families here and in London recently. When he was in England, his meeting with a small group of handpicked families raised the ire of some Britons. But Marshall understood that Bush couldn’t meet with everyone and she felt that she and the other nine families were there as representatives, not tokens. Her view on the president’s funeral policy was equally sanguine. She didn’t expect a personal appearance, but says: “I think that if he can’t make it himself that he should designate an individual with a high enough status that makes his presence known.” That seemed like a reasonable solution to many of the families I asked.
<snip>
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
