Devastating: Soldiers' last letters home

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/opinion/21LETT.html?hp

Excerpt:

Friday, Sept. 19, 2003

I lack the words to express the whirlwind of emotions I am going through right now. We are still in Iraq, one day from getting to our base camp. So far the road has been safe, but tomorrow we get into Indian country: there have been numerous attacks along our route and frankly I am scared. Tomorrow I may see if four years at West Point and $250,000 of taxpayer money has produced an effective leader. I don't know if I will sleep tonight but I will try.

The image that keeps appearing in my mind is of you at the end of that aisle as your dad put your hand in mine. All I think about is that — and how we have joined together for life. That is why I must do my best and come home safe to you. Your family entrusted you to me, and I can't take care of you if I don't take care of myself. I love you with all my heart.

Monday, Sept. 22

Today things did not go so well. We rolled out on a mission in the early afternoon. Right before we were supposed to turn around and come back we got shot at. I'm O.K. . . . These armored Humvees are pretty good but I'd rather have my tanks. We had one other guy wounded but thank God neither were serious.

Thursday, Sept. 25

Well, today we got in all kinds of contact and thank God nobody was hurt. I keep pressing the commander to try and find out how long we will be here. He doesn't know of course and says he can only speculate. The thing is if he says six months and it turns out to be 12, that will kill morale. Morale is already very low here, as you might have guessed. No mail, lots of work, the heat and bad chow will do that to a unit.

...

Terrible realities of this assinine, injust war!

that 'bad chow' thing brings up something that makes my blood boil - and boil even more considering there's hardly enough outcry here in USA.

it's been said again and again 'an army marches on its stomach.' (i believe by Sun Tzu, but i could be misquoting) without adequate supplies an army, no matter size, exposes itself to defeat. improper food not only destroys morale, risks poisoning, and through malnourishment, invites disease. to touch the food lines of my troops with such incompetence just so we can 'do this operation on the cheap' is absolutely treasonous!

and what makes it even more galling is that it is an outsourced part of the army's needs. who in their right mind allowed that? you never, ever, allow third parties get involved inbetween your army and the necessary supplies for its survival. to do so is either a level of trust bordering upon the divine, or hubris and folly that is headlong into bedlam. considering the third parties will most likely be controlled by humans, who are notoroiusly untrustworthy when major opportunities arise, it can only be the latter.

why aren't people of both sides, liberal and conservative, street protestor and armchair general, absolutely livid? these are humans, our humans, our specially trained humans filling an immensely important and largely horrible (but necessary) job of defense (even though we seem to be more involved in attack...). how can we say we support the troops on either side of the aisle while exposing them - and us! - to such risks? why aren't there blood-curdling screams about this in the veteran's facilities? i just don't understand!

message to his family from Sgt. Michael A. DiRaimondo, 22, of Simi Valley, Calif. Sergeant DiRaimondo, who planned to be a paramedic firefighter, was killed on Jan. 8 when his helicopter was shot down while on a medical evacuation mission near Fallujah.

Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004

. . .

I've been thinking about my future a lot lately. Who knows what's gonna happen, right?

Bush:

"And there's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids on the death of their loved ones. Others hug, but having committed the troops, I've got an additional responsibility to hug, and that's me, and I know what it's like."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,859708,00.html

I bet shrub sleeps well. He is convinced that he is right with god.