Here on the right coast it's 2:30 am...

[catnhatnh]

in Iraq about mid morning...somewhere in that damned country walks a young soldier that looks very much as I did in '72.I'll bet he curses the "Goddamn" Army as much as I did...18-19 years old,chesty,a stud...and when I wake up tomorrow he'll be dead.Goodnight....

[OnyxCollie]

1. And so it goes... nt

[robinlynne]

2. This post floored me. stopped me dead in my tracks. I dont want to spoil it by writing,

but I had to k&r.

[Suich]

3. .

:cry:

[ClayZ]

4. .

[catnhatnh]

5. In an AP story posted to DU at 5:50am

He was killed south of Baghdad while on "dismounted foot patrol".Identification will be made pending notification of next of kin.He died while I,like most of America slept....RIP

[MLFerrell]

6. My brother is going back to Iraq in June...

And let me tell you, this is all you think about when you have friends or family in *'s hellhole over there.

And too many more are going to die before this is all over.

For one man's ego.

What the hell kind of people are we to not put a stop to this madness?

[retread]

7. Excellent question. I suspect we know the answer. n/t

[shadowknows69]

13. The word coward comes to mind

When I think about my own inaction at times. It's not enough to sit here and rage in print.

[catnhatnh]

9. I apologize for the distress the post caused...

and agree with your opinion...I guess I was just remembering youth and reflecting on how frail it can be when you feel invulnerable...am NOT a combat vet but I sure as hell served with them....

PS.In my non-denominational atheistic way, I will pray every day for your brother as I pray for all the victims of "madness" for profit.

PPS.I did not want to be right.

[Cabcere]

25. I'm so sorry...I know that can't be easy on anyone in your family.

:hug: I'll be thinking about your brother...may he come home safe and well. :grouphug: :hug:

[Skidmore]

8. Cat, put that in letter form and send it to as many newspapers

and news organizations as you can.

That is exactly what people need to hear.

It is hard to sleep these days, isn't it. It is hard to keep from weeping, too.

[catnhatnh]

10. I'm not good at this...

but I did try the Union Leader and the Boston Globe....we'll see. Thanks.

[Skidmore]

12. Cat, all that needed was a "Dear Editor" in front if it

and a signature behind it. Nothing else. Your unedited words speak volumes.

[catnhatnh]

11. Self kick...

because I think I said it well...

[Terri S]

15. you not only said it well...

but in the most profound way. Short, concise, and with a dagger to the heart. I second the motion to post this far and wide. Every paper you can think of. Send it to Keith. Ask him to just use it at the end of each broadcast. The people like the posters here who have family and friends there don't need the wake-up call. I didn't need it either...but I'm sitting here sobbing. The country needs to be sobbing. Every minute. They have to see and feel that soldier like it was their own son or daughter or husband or father. Not a number. A face. A human being. A freaking child!!!! Dead. For what?

A very heartfelt K & R!!

[WiseButAngrySara]

27. Ditto everything you said, and I am sobbing too. ....n/t

[karlrschneider]

14. You said more in ...what, 50 words? Than our fearless leader has in his whole sordid life.

k&r

[catnhatnh]

16. I am old now...

but I remember...how easily I breathed and ran and performed the push-ups the DI's demanded...and the combat vets with the different eyes and how hard they warned me.I bow to our posters like Monkeyman and 11Bravo who warn us of what real war means.I despise myself for not recognizing sooner the gulf they stared into...But I fully recognize that past this day and hour,and the tradgedy of the thousands already so hobbled by the horrors commited for a lie-each of us has a responsibility to testify as to what we see and what we know....

[karlrschneider]

17. I'm probably as old as you (65 yesterday, actually). I was in the service

during the VietNam "war" years but never was sent there. But I did lose 4 friends in that clusterfuck...so my perspective is rather from the sidelines but I feel that I can relate, if somewhat vicariously.

[catnhatnh]

18. Karl...it's nice to know...

...your age-I am younger at 53-I read you often in different forums-we disagree but you are often the best voice for positions I disagree with...But do you remember it-the day you passed out of basic???That's what I remembered last night,that and the implied promise of invinciblity and thinking that that was how your whole life would be???Instead I got old and fat and forgot just how precious the lives we are losing are...and no-I never forgot how vacuous some of my fellow trainees were-I just think of what they could have become..

[karlrschneider]

19. Actually I don't remember the last day of basic, but I do recall much of it

before then. Having been a hell-raiser since childhood, I got into it with the idiot NCO DIs more than once. :D
Ennyhoo, thanks for the compliment - apparently you've noticed I'm opinionated as hell and have low tolerance for
what I perceive as stupidity. :-) Speaking of vacuous, I worked with many senior officers, up to and including a
3-star General and around half of them weren't bright enough to pour piss out of a boot with the directions printed on the heel. :eyes: But that's for elsewhere and I'm glad we can agree on the pathetic waste of young lives being
committed for King George's little narcissistic "war."

ks

[catnhatnh]

20. Eloquent as always...N/T

[uppityperson]

21. Good post. Here is the latest named on ICCC, 21 yr old, RIP Henry

http://icasualties.org/oif/prdDetails.aspx?hndRef=3-2007
http://www.silive.com/newsflash/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-21/117476788439900.xml&storylist=simetro

3/24/2007, 4:13 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press

MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) — A 21-year-old Marine from northern New York has been killed in Iraq, according to family and friends.

Henry W. Bogrette, from Richville, was a military policeman. His grandmother, Joan Neuman, said two Marines in dress uniforms came to her door early Friday to tell her that Bogrette had been killed Thursday in Iraq.

A graduate of Hermon-DeKalb Central School, he spoke to students last fall about the realities of war, Superintendent Ann Adams said. "He talked to the kids for a long time, and everyone really got something out of it," Adams said. "It was brave of him to talk about those things, and everyone agreed that it's time to think about ending this war."

Andrea Hazelton, a friend from home and MySpace pal, said by e-mail that Bogrette took pride in being a Marine in Iraq. Neuman said she had raised Bogrette and his brothers and sisters after their father was killed in a car accident in 1990. He has two siblings in the military. "This is wrong, and I hated the fact that he was over there. But I know that's what he wanted. And I am so proud of him for that," she said.

By the way, good writing, good to send off as LTE.

[catnhatnh]

22. Henry ain't my guy....

I want to know whom my guy was.I want seared into my soul his name and where his hometown was.It's not disrespect to Henry.I want to know MY guy....once I do,on this board at least,he (or she) will not be forgotten....

[uppityperson]

26. It will take a couple days to be posted. I know what you mean.

I have 1 seared into me also. Saw his notice, and picture, and that was it.

[Cabcere]

23. Henry is my age.

And he lived to be two years older than "my" Marine...rest in peace, good men. :cry: :patriot:

[catnhatnh]

28. He maybe was a Willy or a Sam (or a Sam)

but ignoring old lyrics I intend to make this guy my case-I challenge the White House itself to justify his death...

[Cabcere]

29. The White House should be made to justify

every single one of the 3,236 deaths they have caused so far. :grr:

[Cabcere]

24. There are no words...K&R. n/t

[CrazyOrangeCat]

30. K&R

Please send this off to some editor, of something, somewhere. . . cuz it doesn't get any more powerful than those three sentences.

[MLFerrell]

31. Kick...

catnhatnh, this thread has about three more hours on the greatest page. In my opinion, everyone on this board needs to read this. PM me, I'd be MORE than glad to polish 'er up for LTTE submissions if you'd like. Words are my stock in trade. :)

This was the first thing that I read this morning. And it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. You wrote above that you weren't trying to dredge up unpleasant thoughts, and I salute you for that. For me, this put it all in perspective. My brother just turned 24. I'm 25. Good young men and women are dying as we speak (ok, type...). I have never been so ashamed at my country as I am now. Not my government, mind you. My country. My countryFOLK. This is what mass cowardice looks like.

Another one of those kids is going to die tonight while we sleep. And tomorrow, another. And another, and another...

It's long past time that we THE PEOPLE put a stop to this insanity.

Good night, my friend. Rest well knowing that you'll arise refreshed, rejuvenated, and ALIVE. Our brave soldiers, sailors, Marines and Airmen in Iraq don't enjoy that luxury...

EDIT: Typo. The beer has officially gotten to me. :)

[potisok]

32. Dead

Sent there by people who have never walked the walk.


One blown engagement, two divorces, many jobs, drunken, drugged, sleepless nights -----
many will be broken beyond repair, wondering why they live, while others died.

You never forget, if you are lucky, you learn to live with what you are.

Thank you catnhatnh

potisok, Golf Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division USMC 1970-1972

I apologize in advance if this some how offends any one, I do support our men in uniform and believe in them. Just not this war.

[MLFerrell]

34. Thank you for your service, Marine.

It is utterly shameful that certain men of the generation marred by Vietnam have perpetrated another unnecessary and illegal war. What is infinitely more shameful is the reality that the American people have allowed those men to wreak such havoc, and continue to do so.

I weep for my country...

[ellie_belly]

33. My heart is filled with tears. nt

[uppityperson]

35. 2 listed March 23, 30 yr old National Guard (by Fallujah), 23 yr old (Baghdad) RIP

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=10659
Sgt. Greg N. Riewer, 30, of Frazee, Minn., died Mar. 23 in Habbaniyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive devise detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Bemidji, Minn.

http://www.wctrib.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8O2T5RG1

Riewer was a 1997 graduate of Frazee High School and was one of 13 children in their family, including a brother who is serving in the same company, said Maj. Patricia Baker, a Guard spokeswoman.

The sergeant had served previously in Bosnia and both he and his brother, Staff Sgt. Andrew Riewer, were sent to Iraq together last year, Baker said.

Greg Riewer was an avid hunter, according to his family. "We always got a kick out of him when he would return to deer camp with his buck but not say anything about it until I asked hours later," his father, Richard Riewer, of Frazee, said in a statement released by the Guard. "I will miss the sight of him returning at the end of the day in his blaze orange, oversized coveralls."

Greg Riewer was very quiet but had a big heart, and he and his brother were best friends, their father said. He also loved riding his motorcycle. "My image of Greg was when he would jump on his bike in the middle of the night," his father said. "He was always proud of his bike even though it bothered mom that he had bought and then upgraded it to be more powerful. I think he felt most free on his motorcycle."

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2007/03/24/mn/m3.txt

Riewer was a 1997 graduate of Frazee High School and was one of 13 children in their family, including a brother who is serving in the same company, said Maj. Patricia Baker, a Guard spokeswoman.

The sergeant had served previously in Bosnia and both he and his brother, Staff Sgt. Andrew Riewer, were sent to Iraq together last year, Baker said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=10657
Spc. Lance C. Springer II, 23, of Fort Worth, Texas, died Mar. 23 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on combat patrol. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

(not much online about him yet. Looking for pictures too. Still not quite right, but here you are. Heavy heart.)

[uppityperson]

36. 3/22 (21 yrs old) 3/24 (21 yrs old). RIP Henry and Trevor.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=10661
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette, 21, of Richville, N.Y.

Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City, Okla.

Bogrette died March 22 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Corps Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Roberts died March 24 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Oklahoma City, Okla.