My nephew's son killed in Iraq and I am mad as hell

A 19 year old marine.

Nobody should have had to die for this war.
Parents should not have to bury their children.

My sinscere condolences. I have no more words.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

no-one should have died for this, no-one.

I'm so sorry. Your anger is righteous. I feel for you & yours. My brother leaves next week. He drew the worst job-- 30 miles north of Baghdad, patrolling daily for IEDs on Route 1. Again, I'm so sorry.

19 years old as well. I'm very concerned about his safety. I'm so so sorry. Time to put an end to this presidents agenda and restore sanity in the world.

Vote Kerry, Vote democracy, not theocracy.

he'll kill Osma and then take care of this stupid war Bush just had to fight for no reason.

Howie Dean, come home...all is forgiven.

I lost an old buddy of mine a little while back.

He was worth more to America than Bush's whole cabinet, combined, as was your nephew's son.

How long must this go on?

I'm so sorry for your family's loss .

:cry:

clear that he didn't give a shit what dissenters said.

and you are so right. this war is wrong on so many levels. and our young men and women are dying uselessly.

from us here at du :grouphug:

Please send DU love to the parents. I cannot imagine the grief and anger. So sad.....

:(

It just breaks my heart.

:cry:

:cry:

May he rest in peace.

May George W. Bush burn in hell for what he's done.

Please let his parents know how much this means to all of us.

THeir lives will never be the same again. :cry:

:hug: to you, also.

Kanary

if there were any justice in this world, bush and his cronies would all be tried for war crimes ... i'm totally opposed to the death penalty but i might just be willing to make an exception ...

here is an excerpt of some lyrics from Arlo Guthrie's "Presidential Rag" that were written about Nixon but are pretty damned relevant to bush:

You're the one we voted for, so you must take the blame,
For handing out authority to men who are insane,
You say its all fixed up now, you've got new guys on the line,
but you had better remember this while you still got the time,
mothers still are weeping for their boys that went to war,
And fathers are still asking what the whole damn thing was for,
and People still are hungry and people still are poor,
And an honest week of work these days don't feed the kids no more

He signed up right after 9/11 and instead of fighting the terrorists he's at war with the very citizens of Iraq he was sent to 'liberate.'

He's grown up very quickly. He's seen his friends killed and he's seen Iraqi children killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My friend's son has been destroyed by this war. He has been asking in his e-mails what the hell he and his fellow soldiers are doing there?

If the soldiers don't even know, why do so many isolated, safe and privileged Americans think they know?

I'm very sorry for your family's terrible loss.

It is unjust and you have every right to be angry.

So sorry for your loss.

this damned war is going to touch everyone.

I'm new here, and am sorry for your loss.

to have to answer for it.

Mark my words.

Everywhere you look, there seems to be a criminal in the administration.

over on the others.

Then we bag them ALL. Rove, Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell, the works.

Never again. Two Vietnams are enough.

although it's true enough that no matter where you swing a hanging chad in this admninistration, you're going to hit a criminal.

because I didn't intend to make light of the situation in a thread like this. Sometimes the esoteric takes over and you forget where you're at.

offend.

but feel free to flog any one of the multiple criminals in this adminstration with as many hanging chads as you wish.

I am so sorry. Words cannot express... we must get the liar out of office, for your familys sake.

:cry:

Our prayers are with you.

Vinnie

http://www.vinnievin.com

I'm just so sad that people have to lose their lives for nothing.
I wish the best for your entire family.

I don't know what else to say.

I get very upset whenever I hear of someone's loss in Iraq. What did they die for? Bush* did not care so many people objected to this invasion. The blood of your nephew's son is on Bush*s hands.

I am very sorry your family is going through this.

My heart breaks for you, and my fear is that my 15 year old grandson will have to go. America has to say no, no more. Too damn many have died already.

My deepest condolences. so horrible and so sad.

the overwhelming impact to the families of all the casualties in this terrible war.

communications officer, 25. |I want him to come home in one piece! He is the sweetest guy. I am SOOO sorry for your family's loss!

I wish I could hug you and your nephew. My 19 year old nephew is in Afghanistan right now. Probably on to Iraq next. I lost a friend in Vietnam 34 years ago. You never really get over it.

*

I have a son over there. I fear for him every day. I can't imagine that feeling, though I live it almost every day.

I served with the Fleet Marine Expeditionary forces in Beirut, the following poems are from The Beirut Memorial website, they are not mine. But they speak volumes.............

The following is from a corpsman ("Doc") in Beirut who wishes to remain anonymous:

Jeff,
I was thinking...The way Ive learned to deal with Beruit is through my poetry. I've been told by friends that I should get them published, however the poems are my pain on paper... things I couldn't share with strangers. Now as I sit thinking about it all, I think Id like to share it with my brothers who were there. Is there a place on your board for this type of expression?




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

For Gods sake____
Let us sit upon the grass
and tell sad storys,
about the death
of brave young kings.

For they shall never reign____
Eyes forever closed...
Inside caskets rusted shut.
Their only life__
is our remembrance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming Home
Change will come,
Change is here.
Love fades out,
Then reappears.
Now my water has turned
to wine and these
thoughts I have I now claim
as mine..
I'm coming home.

Change has been,
change will be,
time will tell,
Then time will ease.

My curtain has been drawn
and my heart can go to where
my heart does belong
I'm going home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And I will have to be braver now,
than I have ever been.
And I will have to be stronger now,
Than I ever was before.
And I will have to be more loyal now,
Than I have ever been.

A warriors heart will never change...
Only its direction..
Only its focus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I could see the man
I was yet to become..
And the man that was not to be..

But only with the eyes
of the man who
is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some things are better
left unsaid,

But they turn me inside
out,
And I can barely speak
of them,
Their only recourse,
Is to visit me...While I sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd give anything to silence those sounds...
the crying out,
the screams,
the choppers,
I hear it as if its happening
now..

Today I woke to the sound of a chopper in flight__
and I was back,
in Beruit again.
All the sounds mixed in...
Then I heard a man crying for his mother
and I started my day
sobbing.

I wonder if he ever made it home to his mother.
I sometimes wonder if anybody got home..
Anybody?
Am I alone?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I saw J.P today hitchhiking...
(Like he ever would have!)
(was he going home?)
Yet there he was, for a fraction of a second..
(asking?)
No smile, no frown, no recognition..
no eye contact.
(like a stranger, which he was)
I wonder if he knew I did all I could?
(I wonder if I did?)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was like a god...
I could do anything.
I could keep a man alive...
(Or so I thought.)
I was the corpsman...
I had to.
And now...
What compares?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only ones for who the war is over,
are those who died fighting it.
For the rest of us it will always be,
just a nightmare away.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A man should live everyday,
as if it were a preflight check.
He has to ask himself every morning
"am I ready for liftoff?"
And if not...
Find the strength to go
anyway.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How can another know...?
The storys, untold by me?
How could another understand...?
The chaos? The terror?
The destruction of ourselves?
I should not have had to be there.
I should not be the one to explain...
I am the one who is owed an explaination...
And that will never happen.

http://www.beirut-memorial.org/theatre/docpoems.html

My prayers are with you, RR

I wish there was something we could do - besides run Bush* out of town tomorrow.

I am so terribly, terribly sorry for your loss.... :(

of us who will try as much as our poor abilities will permit to share a bit of your loss and grief. It's said that time heals all wounds...I'm not at all sure that's true, but it may be that it does eventually wound all heels. :hug: and :cry:

Hopefully, this long national nightmare will soon be over.

Bush will pay for what he's done to our military and to our citizens. Their blood is on his hands.

for him and 1100+ plus more and their families.... we gave our closing performance tonight and it brought me to tears again... sorry and ANGRY about your loss and all the needless loss * has brought


A MOTHER'S LAMENT

NO, I DON'T FEEL ANY SAFER
AND I AM NO LESS AFRAID.
I MARCHED TO STOP THIS MADNESS
HAVE WE BEEN BETRAYED?
YOU SAID THE THREAT WAS REAL.
YOU SAID THAT WE HAD CAUSE TO FEAR
BUT WAS THE MOTIVATION CLEAR?
DID MY CHILD DIE FOR A LIE?

THE COFFINS ARRIVE IN DARKNESS
THE WOUNDED KEPT OUT OF SIGHT.
YOU SAID YOU'D HUG EACH MOTHER
BUT I'M STILL WAITING
YOU'LL NEVER KNOWN THIS PAIN
MY CHILD WAS NOT PROTECTED
BY PRIVILEGE LIKE YOURS
CAN YOU EXPLAIN?
I ASK YOU AGAIN...

PLEASE, WHAT WAS THIS WAR FOR?
WAS IT ALL A LIE?
WHY DID MY SON DIE?
WAS IT ALL A LIE?
WHAT WILL YOU TELL THE CHILDREN?
TELL THE WIDOWS?
TELL THE MOTHERS?
TELL THE NATION NOW?
THERE WERE NO WEAPONS FOUND.
SO WAS YOUR REASONING SOUND?

DID YOU DECEIVE ME?
WHO SHOULD I BELIEVE?
WAS IT BLOOD FOR OIL?
HAVE YOU SEEN OUR FAMILIES GRIEVE?
THROUGH MY TEARS I WILL SPEAK
OUT UNTIL I'M HEARD
SO HEAR ME NOW I WILL BE ANSWERED
MY FAM'LY PAID THE HIGHEST PRICE OF ALL.
NOW WE CAN GIVE NO MORE.
AND SIR, HIS NAME WAS PAUL.
PLEASE, WHAT IS THIS WAR FOR?

A prayer that you and your family may be comforted.
A prayer that our world may be comforted.
Amen

:hug:

My son is a 20-year-old Marine in Japan. It pains me every time I hear about another death, knowing that tragedy could visit our family, too. You're in my thoughts. :huh:

:cry:

You are so right, too.

*hugs*

I am sorry for your loss.

Thank you all for the responses. The thoughtful words are appreciated, the poetry and songs are beautiful. I am at such a loss - I don't know what to do.

Collectively we will make a difference.

What was his name?

I am so very sorry for your loss.

so sorry about your nephew honey. that is a terrible loss, and there is no excuse for it.