Here's a photo that will break your heart:

[Poiuyt]

[YOY]

1. Heart breaking but it always wigs me when folks dress their kids up like soldiers (or marines)

Just a little too creepy for me.

[Ishoutandscream2]

6. Yes, that child doesn't need to reach the same fate as his daddy

We really need to stop glamorizing war. Especially to our children. What this picture shows is the reality of war; it's not all fun and games.

[The Stranger]

8. Unbelievable.

Whoever dressed that child still does not see what has happened to them and who has done it to them?

[AnneD]

16. Before this becomes a trashing thread....

think on this....There is a point in life when young children want to be 'just like Mommy or Daddy'. It is part of normal child development. Dressing just like Daddy could bring comfort and a sense of being close to an absent parent. They didn't have small uniforms, but when I was young, and Dad was on long deployments-he gave me one of his caps and I wore it everywhere. If he had been killed-I would have worn it to the funeral, even if it looked tacky. If you ever had children and a spouse in the military-you wouldn't be trashing the Mom for letting her son wear dress blues. I find it heartbreaking for other reasons (the little boy will have to grow up without someone that was taken from him at a crucial time). Think before you flame. There can be another side to the story.

[roguevalley]

22. agreed. a lot of people get mini uniforms for their kids for the pictures

with daddy or mommy. its cute and shouldn't be taken for more than that. Repect for this family and that orphaned baby is what matters, not what he's wearing.

[The Stranger]

23. The point is that someone had to assist the child in dressing that way.

Had that person seen and understood the war for what it really is -- especially after suffering such a catastrophic loss, the loss of a loved one with a young child -- then would they have dressed the child in a military uniform? My hope is that they would come to know that the "leaders" have sent others' children to fight, maim, kill and die, and that no more members of their family should be sacrificed in such a way.

[AnneD]

25. You miss the point entirely....

This is a little kid and they don't give a rat's ass about leader and politics or war. Kids are egocentric. It's about being like Mommy or Daddy. It's about comforting a child that misses the absent parent. Kids think in concrete terms. That uniform is his link to his dad right now and you want to take that away for philosophical reasons? I am sure this kid's mother has shown much more understanding of her child's needs now than most of the posters on this thread.

When he becomes an adult he will think like an adult and will come to his own conclusions about war. But for now he is just a child, and it is best not to superimpose adult reasoning and your opinions onto this situation.

[joshcryer]

27. It's actually quite likely that the 'suit' was something he'd worn previously to an event...

...I've been to military ceremonies, and the parents do dress their kids up to "be like daddy or mommy." So I'd agree with you, the jumping the gun in this thread is really heartless if you ask me. Who cares what the kid is wearing!?

[wicket]

2. *gulp*

:cry:

[alfredo]

3. Something like this should happen from old age,

not from greed based wars.

[angstlessk]

4. He'd rather have his daddy than that stupid outfit!!!

:cry:

[Pab Sungenis]

9. Look at the man holding the child.

THAT might be his Daddy.

The dead marine might have been the boy's MOMMY. Remember that a lot of women have been killed in this stupid little game of tin soldiers * has been playing.

[Ishoutandscream2]

12. Touche. You could very well be right.

Or that could be the granddad and for all we know, she could have been a single mom. Lot's of scenarios.

[angstlessk]

17. Ooops...and I am a woman. Of course you are correct!

but whoever is in that coffin, that little boy does not seem to want to let go! SO VERY SAD

[rateyes]

5. That is heartbreaking....but,

I wish the little boy wasn't wearing the bloodstripes. :cry:

[Sadie4629]

14. "Blood stripes?" n/t

[rateyes]

21. Look at the pants on the little boy....

it has a red stripe running the length of the pants leg. Those are called "blood stripes." They are found only on the dress trousers of Officers and Noncommissioned Officers of the Marine Corp.

[YOY]

26. Or on Han Solo's pants as well

[rateyes]

29. except they're not red. nt

[YOY]

32. In some of the figs they were but I digress...geekily

n/t

[Bitwit1234]

7. As heart wrenching as John Kennedy Jr

when he saluted his father's casket. It brought tears every time I saw it.

[BrotherBuzz]

11. I had that same emotion

[neweurope]

10. I'm glad so many of you speak out against putting

that little boy in uniform. Disgusting.

---------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[BlueEyedSon]

13. War is not healthy for children and other living things.

[spanone]

15. wait til that kid learns his father died because his 'commandant in chief' lied

[Selatius]

18. The boy's future is cursed because of Bush's actions.

I guarantee you. Because of what happened in Iraq, people over there will hate America for the next 100 years, and there will be negative consequences for that little boy when he is old enough to fight.

[mainegreen]

19. Someday * won't be president and I can legally say what I think should happen to him.

Someday.

[malaise]

20. Thanks George

you fucking war criminal.

[joshcryer]

24. A quarter of the replies to this thread are about the kids clothes.

Geez. I wonder what Al Gore will be wearing next week...

[toadzilla]

28. that gave me chills.

[SlingBlade]

30. My Heart Breaks Everytime

Poiuyt, My heart breaks everytime I see one of these
That's a powerfull statement of waste.

Thank you.

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Absolutely heartbreaking. I hate this stupid war.

Ugh.