Amid Rhetoric, Let Our Soldiers' Voices Be Heard

I got this link from Mamamontezz. I decided to run it as is. This is an article written by Bob Hill of the Lousville, Kentucky Courier-Journal

The voices least heard from in our war in Iraq are those of the men and women fighting it. Their voices are lost in the midst of the angry, bitter and increasingly irresponsible rhetoric of the 2004 election over the need to be in Iraq — and our level of support for the troops, moral and physical.

We are a country trying to export a democracy we have repeatedly sullied in recent months with everything from the petty, childish destruction of political yard signs to hearing our highest elected officials hurl lies and distortions at each other.

Now come the sexual innuendoes, gutter politics, the vile voices of the political bottom-feeders. Aren't we a better nation than that?

Both parties have spent hundreds of millions of dollars manipulating sound-bite messages aimed at voters who do not want to hear the more complicated truth. We talk about a great and liberating upcoming election in Iraq, and we can't even count our votes in Florida.

Some democracy. Do you ever wonder if the soldiers just back from Iraq don't look around and ask: "Is this what we are fighting for?"

Yet the polls taken among the military in Iraq and Afghanistan show the overwhelming majority of them support the war, and President Bush — although there is a growing number of dissenters.

The support is understandable, and laudable. The military exists through the chain of command, and the politics get less complicated when someone is shooting at you and your only hope of survival is to shoot back. Your immediate loyalty is to the people with you in the trench; there may be time to discuss the larger political ramifications later.

Beyond that, they believe in what they are doing; they enlisted for those very reasons. We can support that while arguing over their cause.

One soldier in Iraq

One of those soldiers is David Hill, 28, a St. Xavier graduate who earned a degree in political science at the University of North Texas. He then enlisted in the service, earned his wings in airborne at Fort Benning, is now driving an armored vehicle with the 25th Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade in northern Iraq. He married his girlfriend of four years one month before he went over; he won't get home until next October.

"David's always talked about the military," said his mother, Ellen Eirk. "He played soldier as a little boy. ... Now he's already been shot at and you name it."

About six weeks ago, she saw a television segment about a program called Cell Phones for Soldiers — see cellphonesforsoldiers.com. It was started in Massachusetts by two children, who, after hearing a news report about a local soldier running up a $7,600 phone bill, started a campaign to raise money for calling cards.

It's now a national not-for-profit program in which people donate old cell phones at local drop boxes, or donate cash. The phones are reconditioned and resold. The income is used to buy calling cards for soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

"David's been able to afford to call us," said his mother. "Not everybody in the military is that fortunate."

Ellen Eirk's cell phone drop box is located at Bob Hook Chevrolet, 4144 Bardstown Road, where her husband works. She's already collected 50 old phones; more than $150,000 has been raised for phone cards nationwide.

She's heard from her son by phone three times — "He was in the middle of a lot of bad things" — but the cell phone program did not pay for his calls; there are other voices to be heard.

"I'll do anything I can to support the troops," Eirk said. "I never appreciated what military families are going through. ... Now I'm living it."

Bob Hill's column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. You can reach him at (502) 582-4646 or e-mail him at bhill@courier-journal.com. You can also read his columns at www.courier-journal.com.

That is the truth. Everyday we hear people on the news tell us what is wrong with this war, or even what is going on in this war, but the one group (the most reliable source for information on the war on terror) that never gets heard are the soldiers, sailors, Airmen and Marines that are on the ground in harms way.

It's pretty simple people it's not about whether you support the war or not, or whether you support the President or not, it is about supporting the troops. Remember these brave souls are your sisters, brothers, Mothers, Fathers and friends. Contrary to common leftist beliefs the military is not a bunch of criminals or drop outs. We are the best equiped, best trained, best educated military the world has ever known. There is much value to be held in the information provided by those on the ground.

SUPPORT THE TROOPS!!

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at October 31, 2004 11:02 AM