Dissent on the Homefront: Families of Soldiers Lead the Charge

[Mari333]

News of the death of Jane Bright's son, Evan, arrived with the US military's greatest triumph in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad. In Mosul, the 101st Airborne cornered and killed Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay. Outside town, a US patrol came under attack, and Ms Bright's son, an infantryman, was killed along with two other soldiers.
That was on July 24. Her anger has not abated. "There are some terrible things going on there," she says.

Yesterday, other American families waited for official confirmation of death, after reports arrived of one soldier from the 101st Airborne killed near Mosul and two members of the 4th Infantry Division killed in a mortar attack near Samara. This brought to 108 the number of US troops to die under hostile fire since May 1, when President George W Bush declared an end to major combat. >>>







http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1070641,00.html

This is it! The MILITARY families are leading the way to Bring the Kids HOME NOW!

[KharmaTrain]

1. Shame...Absolute Shame

Today thousands of American families, like yours Mari, have been drastically altered by this ruinous invasion. For some it's having to spend months away from loved ones and worrying about jobs and paying bills...for others it's returning with a physical or mental disability that will scar many, quietly yet very painfully, for years and decades to come...or others who face the ultimate pain of losing a child, a partner, a soulmate, a friend for gutless, heartless, greedy bastards like the ones that run our government.

It's bad enough that our "Commander In Oxygen Thief" has never attended the funeral of a "fighter of evil doers", but now all media coverage of the arrivals and funerals are to be squashed as well? I thought we were fighting for "democratic values".

It's ever so gauling to still hear these chickenhawks who are playing with so many lives with little to no personal risk. That's not only a shame, that's an outrage!

[Mari333]

2. The emails from their loved ones on here

are terrifying....like this one


From a reservist from Indiana
"Everyone hears that morale is high and it is a bold-faced lie. The only people they ever talk to are these commanders. The reserve soldiers never get to speak their mind. We are the pawns of this war. We watch the active duty retire, and move to new assignments. We watch their tours end as we are still trapped because of poor post-war planning."

[KharmaTrain]

3. I'm So Heartened About Your Situation...

I've been following the muzzle that is being placed on the rank and file in the military and can't read enough of those emails. Definitely terrifying and totally ruthlessly censored by the top brass. This is smelling so much like the Soviet adventure in Afghanistan.

Last year my wife's best friend's son, in the Air Force, was "found dead". They were notified in the middle of the night and had to wait one very agonizing week for both the body and an autopsy report...that still left more questions unanswered. Long story short, this loss has devestated the family that has been in virtual seclusion since this occured and still have deep pains caused by the lack of military answers and candor. It's more frustrating since they feel if they speak out they endanger ever getting to the truth and being labeled subversive or "Un-American".

[Mari333]

5. I dont understand why

people are afraid to be labelled unamerican etc...my god, thats the hallmark of patriotism to speak out..Its the essence of it...
if my child were killed or hurt I would be screaming from the rooftops...but the horror , I cant even imagine, what must be happening to them...just pure horror and grief..
Ive been through horrible grief, but , never a child..dont know if I could bear that...
we have to get these kids home. we have to get these kids home.

[KharmaTrain]

7. Sign Of The Times

I've never seen so many people afraid as I do these days. Fearful of losing a job, family illness, war, bad economy and so on...and they are cowered into silence. Sure, we bitch, but other than holding pity parties, so many are afraid to stand up beyond that. They fear that if they take a stand or go against a corporation or the government, it's subversive and could ruin them. And, honestly, Mari, I don't blame them...it takes someone with a lot of principles and a few buck wouldn't hurt, just to stand up for rights that we are supposed to be guaranteed.

Growing up in the Vietnam era, I proudly wore a POW bracelet and had the good fortune to know several veterans over the years, including some that are lifelong friends. They taught me the horrors that a war brings home in the memories, the disruption of their lives and the overall military culture has had and continues to have on their lives. Maybe these stories will make it to a movie screen (ala Deer Hunter) in a decade, but for many this is either a new or soon-to-be developing horror.

Here's to you and Shout-Out and other sites (I check out Col. Hackworth's site regularly) and that we find as many ways to get the voices of our REAL heroes inside Iraq out, and then once their voices are out, their asses will follow.

Cheers!

[Bozita]

4. Great find, Mari. ... This is MUST READ stuff.

Your story should be written up by one of our many talented writers. Will should do a follow-up for Truthout and give it wide circulation.


look at this paragraph from the Guardian:

-snip-

None of the people the Guardian contacted said their family member would re-enlist. Some have taken a decision to get out - even those who have devoted their lives to the reserves. "My husband has 20 years in the military, and loved every minute of it," says Candance Gordon, the wife of a reservist from Texas. "He will be resigning his commission the minute he steps foot on American soil, and he says almost everyone he knows is doing the same. The only ones staying in are those who have long contracts, or no family, or make more money being in the reserves than in their civilian life."

-snip-

[Mari333]

6. The authour of the article

sent out questionnaires to mfso.org and these were the incredible responses....she printed it today and it came via email.
www.mfso.org
www.bringthemhomenow.com

[Bozita]

8. Your story is a story unto itself. ---Any reporters out there...

...looking for a human interest story with a happy ending should be searching for you.

It's got all the ingredients.

[Q]

9. This is another similarity to the Vietnam war...

- Congress offered no help in bringing the 'kids' home from Vietnam. It was the families and the Vets themselves who fought the government every step of the way.

- I still remember the rallies where returning soldiers threw their hard-earned medals into a giant 'trash bin' set up on the mall. I have a video of it...and look at it from time to time to remember that the real power is in the people...not the warmongering governments.

[Mari333]

10. I remember marching with the Vets alongside me

during the end of the Vietnam war...who would have thought we would have to go through this shite again?? will this f*cking country ever learn???

[pippin]

11. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=183336