En route home, for the last time. Hidden in the statistics section of the paper; hidden in a C-130 on the way home; hidden from the view of those who would honor them here as they are whisked away across the tarmac in secrecy; only to be hidden in the warm embrace of Mother Earth, since their own mothers' can't comfort them anymore.
Imagine your child here.
Imagine mine.
Nothing, absolutely nothing in my experience with the US Military has so deeply moved me as standing in the middle of Arlington National Cemetery. The wind chill was -45F and the tears froze on my cheeks.
What the fuck are we doing there?
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Last night on "60 Minutes," Obama said that if elected, one of his first tasks as president would be to order the beginning to the military pullout from Iraq to be completed by fall 09. Clinton, on the same show, echoed this but said she'd ask the Defense Sec. and Joint Chiefs for a plan and wasn't specific about timing, as I recall. Both are concerned about Iraqi citizens and the possibility of the violence increasing when American troops begin leaving, but it sounded like they expected Iraq to step up to the plate now....
Another tragedy of this war, and any war, are the people who return with Post-Traumatic Stress who do not get the help that they need. That needs to change even more than it has.
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