back on Thanksgiving.. much the same thing, lots and LOTS of complaints about the way the Guard and Reserves are being treated/extended, and a subtle, not-to-be-spoken-aloud undercurrent of frustration that I can easily identify: doubt and uncertainty about the Bush policy in Iraq, even though I suspect many of these people might not even know it themselves..
here's the original post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=786341Father and Son, serving together in combat in Iraq! :-(
talked to my dad last night, he's in the Virginia Nat'l Guard. While a Repube, he nonetheless had a LOT to say about the stress and strain this war is having on the guard and reserves. They are currently severely under-staffed, over-worked, and now full of dread for next year when the Guard and Reserves will be handling 60% of the duties in Iraq. Not to mention the extended deployments, etc. Seems like morale is getting quite low out there, though I am not sure how that is affecting Bushian support amongst them (we avoid discussing politics as much as possible). His mood, however, seemed very uncertain, hesitant, as if he is getting bad vibes and feelings about the way this thing is escalating...
While he was conforting me by letting me know there is yet no plan to send him to Iraq, he did relate a sad story to me- there was a group from his area (sorry, I don't know all the military terms for troops, units, battalions, etc...) that has been shipped off to Iraq, but they were short of some key specialists, and had to get them from other dept's. Well, turns out the ONLY available specialist for this (whatever) mission, is the father of one of the boys in that same unit! So now they have a man and his son serving in a war zone, together, as part of the same group. My dad wondered how the mother/wife responded to this!
He also said many of his coworkers are talking about how you pretty much have to either homosexually attack another man, or beat your wife, in order to NOT be called up now, and that they would not be surprised if there will be an increase in both those kinds of incidents in the months to come, as people start getting desperate (and dreading the 3-year deployments into a combat zone!)
I was sorely tempted to ask about his Bush feelings, but I left it alone for now...