GET ME THE F..K OUTTA HERE! (Letter From Soldier in Iraq)

[kpete]

Letters From Iraq Part 1: Suicide, PTSD, Mental Breakdowns and Unending Violence
by Jay Shaft CFTM EDITOR

Thu Mar 23, 2006 at 06:12:03 PM PDT

This the raw truth from soldiers in Iraq.



Want to know the reason I decided to go to the VA on that day that I was forever changed? Do you want to know why I went to see it for myself? The letters from my friend Crazy 101 will tell you why as you get to the end of it.

Well that's gonna be the end of this soldier's letter. Hope I can write another one in a few weeks. Pray that I can keep alive and stay out of the sh.t. Remember the soldiers who fell in Iraq and Afghanistan for all the world to be safe. Does it matter to you?

Does it matter to you if we come home now and or we stay over here and die or get f..ked up? I hope you will help us come home, because we all want it now! No long wait for us, just do that and we'll forget about everything else for a while. Remember, every day we stay here at least 2 more soldiers die and 5-10 get wounded. How long till you say it's been long enough?

This is no longer a matter of right or wrong, it's a matter of life or death. The only thing that anyone needs to worry about at this point is how many lives they can save by stopping this and stopping it right now. Just listen to all of us who are over here and don't want to stay another miserable day.

We are all telling you people how it really is, and I've done it once before just like this. Did you pay attention last time I wrote a letter? Are you paying any attention now, or will you just throw this away like the lives of so many people who have died for this insanity? I ain't gonna try to say anything more.

That's all folks!

PLEASE????? BRING US HOME NOW AND SAVE OUR ASSES AND OUR SANITY! PLEASE, CAN YOU DO IT FOR OUR FAMILIES IF NOT FOR US?

GET ME THE F..K OUTTA HERE!
SSGT. CRAZY 1OH1-ONE (OH SHIT MAN!) ONE

MORE AT:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/23/20123/8222

[Hissyspit]

1. RECOMMENDED

[Rainscents]

2. This is so sad.

I wish I could do something... This kind of shit upsets me more than anything else. :argh:

[fooj]

4. I know.

I feel so damn helpless.

Peace.

[fooj]

3. How can we ignore this?

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[Minnesota Libra]

5. I'm darn near tears right now. nt

[xultar]

6. Why is this soldier only reporting the bad? Why doesn't he tell us

about the schools he's building or the walls he's painting?

Why do the soldiers hate America?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

42. Why Do they hate America? and Democracy. and Freedom. and . . . .

[radfringe]

43. calling bush* on his blather....

bush contends that the reason people think Iraq is such a mess is because of "media hype"

this implies that things are really better than we think in Iraq and all the "good news" is not being reported

ok - so things are really great in Iraq - great wonderful hip-hip-hooray

I suggest that bush put on his fly-boy costume, land on an aircraft carrier, declare "VICTORY IN IRAQ" and bring our troops home!!!!

[pacalo]

7. This is heartbreaking.

In case the author at Kos doesn't send the link to this to Rep. Murtha, I'm going to do so.

Besides stealing the election, the main reason I became glued to the internet for news about this administration is that I have two draft-age sons.

[catnhatnh]

8. Sadly,by tomorrow I will have forgotten this thread...

almost as completely as those in charge who couldn't be bothered to read it....

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. Editor's note:

(Editor's note: He is referring to a letter his wife posted on a discussion board for families with soldiers in Iraq. While I did not see the post, I did receive a partial copy of the letter. The message was mysteriously removed from the board after it had been up for less than five hours. According to his wife, an officer from his unit harassed her by phone about revealing information that might encourage more terrorist attacks. She says he was threatened and punished with extra duty and longer work hours in retaliation for his honesty about how bad the unit deaths and injuries were.

I have independently verified at least two acts of harassment and have been told of several other incidents of a very similar nature in that same unit or command structure. This is something that is becoming a more commonly related story as soldiers start to document their experiences and frustrations on various blogs, discussion boards, with letters of outrage to Congress and Bush, and in interviews with journalists.

I am in the process of interviewing 11 different family members who report harassment and vindictive or retaliatory punishment in at least eight different Army Brigades or Divisions. Many families have written letters to Congress or President Bush about the harassment, or threatening and abusive treatment of their loved ones.

As far as I know this is not being addressed and dealt with by the Congressional members who are supposed to look out for and defend our soldiers rights. I will not say this is true about every member of Congress, just those not helping the soldiers who need them most.

If you know of a similar incident please e-mail and I will make it a priority to document and expose any type of harassment or abuse of our soldiers.)

[babylonsister]

10. Activist action? Send to someone who cares? But who will

listen and do something? Feeling helpless here.:cry:

[w8liftinglady]

14. if it helps-the media DOES want this story...

I submitted my letter http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x722839 to several LARGE newspapers,and was contacted within hours by three papers.I chose my local paper(Dallas Morning News),But I was also contacted by the Boston Globe and the Chicage Tribune.They are desperate to get opinions that aren't from talking heads.I would suggest forwarding that letter to matt bernstein,of the Boston Globe.He wrote me two very nice e-mails.
[e-mail]

[babylonsister]

17. I wonder if the soldier could get in trouble if this were ever

offered to a newspaper, or if they'd print it if it's not from the original writer. What do you think?

[kpete]

20. I worry about that too...

[w8liftinglady]

21. they might be able to do an editorial piece...

[DLnyc]

28. Hand out xeroxed copies in malls?

I imagine some minds could be unlocked.

[uppityperson]

11. I could not read the whole thing.

what are we doing to our young men and women? War is hell.

[cantstandbush]

12. Sad, but most of the troops don't even know the truth about their gov.

They only hear Rush and I am sure that what they hear from him is all about how the "liberal media" is selling them down the river and the President and the Republicans are the only ones who support them.

[kpete]

25. Maybe,

They know more than we sometimes think....

[Breeze54]

31. That's NOT true!

There are other voices they hear and on the INTERNET too!

[NMDemDist2]

13. ARGH

:argh:

this is just so horrible

we all knew this would happen, why couldn't our "leaders"

:cry:

:banghead:

crap

[Swamp Rat]

15. kick and recommended n/t

[bluedeminredstate]

16. I guess the repugs would say

this man isn't "supporting the troops." For shame.
Except...he is a soldier deserving of support regardless of where he stands on the war. Do they only "support" gung-ho pro-war soldiers?
Not to worry, their support will evaporate when the men and women return home with injuries and PTSD and no way to get help.

[mandyky]

18. Yikes! We're about to see the replay of

disgruntled Vietnam Vet postal worker mass murders.

Did you all see the part about not being able to work for civilian bosses and take orders from them?

I guess even if a soldier isn't a casualty of being killed or wounded, they still won't come home the way they left, and few will be able to adjust to civilian life. Ouch!!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

19. But Herr Busch says that things in Iraq are going just fine!!

[northofdenali]

22. ...

:cry::cry::mad::cry::cry:

[Tinksrival]

23. Shit....

Just shit! I just spent the last hour going over that post and the links at
Kos. What the hell is wrong with people, with my fellow human beings? This is not a movie, TV, or a book you can put down. This isn't past history or some distant countries acting out against each other. THIS IS US. THIS IS NOW. AND IT WON'T END ANYTIME SOON.

[Pastiche423]

24. I can't say what I truly want to on a public board

so, I'll just say...

For all that is holy, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!

:cry:

[rman]

26. It does matter to me. The tragedy upon the tragedy is,

you're not over there to make the world safe. If you really think that's why you are there - you've been conned, i'm sorry to say. You're over there to help fill the pockets of the already filthy rich.

You may have heard of Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC

1881 - 1940

double recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor

"I spent 33 years and 4 months in active service as a member of our country's most agile military force--the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I suspected I was part of a racket all the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service."

Smedley D. Butler (1935)

http://warisaracket.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

Please come home soon.

[wtmusic]

27. "This is no longer a matter of right or wrong

it's a matter of life or death."

Methinks they're getting a taste of what the Iraqis felt like three years ago.

[ClayZ]

29. .

:cry:

[dweller]

30. the bottom line.

"As long as we're still here we'll still keep dying, that's the bottom line. It's just a matter of how many more dead troops the American people can take before they decide to tell the political f..kers to get us out. I think it's gonna be a matter of how many more families are gonna keep quiet before they just break down and start to scream."


if not now, when?
dp

[democrank]

32. Gut wrenching.

Bring them all home.

[cassiepriam]

33. We are going to be seeing much mental illness in the returning

soldiers. Also, the psychological damage to the Iraqi people will be severe and go on for generations. The research on Holocaust survivors indicates the trauma is passed down for at least three generations.

[Toots]

34. Why does he hate Amerika?

Support the Troops and bring them home now safe and sound. Support America and arrest the Bush* Cabal.

[Daphne08]

35. This. This is just one of the reasons why those of us who are old

enough to have had parents serve in WWII know that you DO NOT go to war unless it's absolutely necessary.

This is just one of the reasons why those of us who are old enough to have had family members and friends serve in Vietnam know that you DO NOT go to war unless it's absolutely necessary.

I cannot write anything more. At some point words themselves become meaningless.

[grytpype]

36. Sorry, but it sounds made-up to me.

Anyone else?

[bpilgrim]

37. which parts?

everything i read in their letters i have read elsewhere as well.

peace

[grytpype]

38. I guess the part about

I guess the part about them being under constant attack like they were at Khe Sahn or something.

[bpilgrim]

45. there are hundreds of attacks, daily

which has only been growing since MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

the only thing new in this world is the history you don't know - H. Truman


peace

[w8liftinglady]

39. no,because i remember my son telling me bits

..he said they were shot at constantly"but it was OK,mom-the hadjis have bad aim"...that's when he also told me not to worry,when I asked him about the children in the way..."we aim low with the kids"
how about this letter..

Not many people in the US know that since the Georgia Army National Guard has been in Iraq how many people we have lost. We lost 8 guys in a week, from the same company (B Co. of 2/121 Infantry). Both incidents were Humvee's blown into pieces by large IEDs south of the Airport, near Baghdad. Then we lost some engineers attached to 2/121 (B or A).... same area! They were hit by a suicide vehicle loaded with explosives.



The first attacks were brutal, the men were in chunks, and my friends responded and helped pick up the pieces. Do Americans know what this is over here? It's not a f*** movie, have they ever seen a body blown apart like I have - most, No. Don't they realize many of us are not coming home. Go read the www.ajc.com articles, many are still thinking we are dying for a just cause - and we are not. We are driving around these backroad farm villages being ambushed by IEDs and accomplishing nothing.



A Troop

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CFTMArchive/message/57

[Just Me]

40. OMG!

:cry:

[Uncle Joe]

41. Kicked and recommended.

:kick:

[walldude]

44. K&R Get these kids home now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[DLnyc]

46. kick (READ THIS!) n/t