OT-this wars reality.

Hi guys, I a sorry to be a bummer here, but reality is reality and I think this message that we never here NEEDS to get out. I have a very close friends brother who is a marine who is 25, has a wife and a two month old baby. He is such a good guy who deserves nothing but the best. I send him care packages and he is very grateful of them b/c I dont know what else to do to help him besides write him emails. Like most of us(I think) we feel helpless in this war situation. He has been involved with all of this crap for two and a half years. These guys just need to come home already. I think it is is important to here the side of this war we RARELY here about. Here are part of emails he has written me: My hours was long....that also included deployments to afghanistan doing some shady **** then the army sent me to Iraq...and then I came home for leave for my son Logan to be born.....he's precious...he's definitely me and my wife's pride...and now im back in Iraq....my life was filled w/ horros of war for a bit and I was used to being alone until I met my wife...I was angry for a while...going to tours of war thinking my only purpose in life was to complete missions and objectives. As one of the countless soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and civilians serving America over seas, I'm pretty fed up with what's going on back home. It's not just the Republicans or the Democrats, It's not just the President or Congress. It's the whole system, it's always the whole system. This is NOT a discussion of whether we should be here or not. The fact is we are here. The system needs to support us, the fighting masses, in what we need to do the job and do it right. I can't say where the line in the sand is, but discontent is growing. There is no room in this world for weak policies, there is no room for leaders not willing to go the distance. We're here to do a job, let us do it. Just like in WWII, when fighting the Axis powers, there is no room here for half-ass measures. If we have to stay, we stay until the job is fully complete. No comprises like the ones that ended WWI, we all see what that lead to. I'm not even getting into the Korean or Vietnam wars either, but you get the idea. And because this is a timeless problem, I end this with a timeless quote...and warning: "We had been told, on leaving our native soil, that we were going to defend the sacred rights conferred on us by so many of our citizens settled overseas, so many years of our presence, so many benefits brought by us to populations in need of our assistance and our civilization. "We were able to verify that all this was true, and, because it was true, we did not hesitate to shed our quota of blood, to sacrifice our youth and our hopes. We regretted nothing, but whereas we over here are inspired by this frame of mind, I an told that in Rome factions and conspiracies are rife, that treachery flourishes, and that many people in their uncertainty and confusion lend a ready ear to the dire temptations of relinquishment and vilify our actions. "I cannot believe that all this is true, and yet recent wars have shown how pernicious such a state of mind could be and to where it could lead. "Make haste to reassure me, I beg you, and tell me that our fellow citizens understand us, support us and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire. "If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware of the anger of the Legions!" -Centurion Marcus Flaninius, Second Cohort, Augusta Legion to his cousin Tertullus in Rome." "Here's a little something I read: There has been a monthly average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2,112 deaths. That gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers. The firearm death rate in Washington DC is 80.6 per 100,000 persons for the same period. That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in the US capital than you are in Iraq. Conclusion: The US should pull out of Washington DC." I've learned to push my body past the breaking point. I've learned how to watch everywhere at once. I've learned how to block fear out of my mind. I've learned how little I really need to be comfortable. I've learned the value of hot food and fresh water. But most importantly, I've learned how much I love my family, and how much they love me. I've learned who my true friends are, the ones I won't see for a year, but still remain as close to them as if I've never left. But what have I lost...that's the hard part to judge. The one thing that sticks up in my mind is I've lost the fear of dying. I guess after seeing so much of it, and coming close so many times, I just came to accept the fact. Everyday I live is borrowed time, everyday might be that day. And it's just not while I'm deployed, I feel that way in the states too. I guess it's spill over. But anyone's who's spent alot of time with me knows that I try to live everyday like it's my last. Everyday I wake up is a blessing to me, so I try to make the best of it. I love driving here, I love pushing it to the edge. And where I crashed my first truck. Blind turns, sharp hills, 20ft drop offs, everynight we'd come close to meeting our maker. But I felt so free. Gas, Clutch, Shift, Brake. One second off and it's over. But only when I'm that close to edge, when a mistake could be my last, do I feel free and whole. I get that same feeling over here, when I'm gunning on a Humvee. Standing there with the wind in my face, watching every rooftop, window, and allyway. Every car could be that car. And that's when I'm free again. There is nothing else in the world at that moment. No worries, no cares, just doing the best you can at a hopeless job. But late at night, it all gets to you. Laying alone in the dark, you can't control what comes back to haunt you. And it does. We can never get back what we've lost, we can never get back those we've lost. We can never forget, only try to move on. I've seen guys try everything to fill that hole in we all have now. But you can't drink it away, you can't snort it away, gobble pills or smoke up. It'll still be there, and we have to be there for each other. I've put all this down to try and give people a little insight into what goes through some of our heads. Not everyone feels like this, but some of us do. I know not many people will under stand what I'm about to say next, but I hope that some of you can. The Army likes to give people at least a 1 year break between deployments. Well, I signed that away to come on this deployment when I did. And I've informed my chain of command that I would like to stay the full tour, and I'll pre-sign away my dwell time if I need to. The easy answer I give people is I need to finish paying off my bills, and save some money to buy a new car. But that's not the full story. I've come to feel at home here. I love my family, I love my friends, I love my beautiful country. But this is where I feel like I fit in. Living the simple life, doing my job. Sorry everybody. But we've all seen me fall apart in the states. Everytime I'm there, things just don't work. Over here I'm doing something that I'm good at, and something that I enjoy. But never forget that I miss all of you very dearly, and can't wait til I come home to visit everyone." This is the end of parts of his emails...very sad. To be honest, I think he is starting to lose it. He has send me pictures and he looks tired and he looks horrible...like some sort of machine with a strange look on his face. I worry what the aftermath of when he comes home will be for him and his family. These guys just need to get out of there already, enough is enough. If you guys can just say a prayer for him and his family, it would be cool. Thanks guys! Be well. Tavia

p.s I dont want to type his name b/c I dont want him to get into any trouble or anything. SO just a prayer for him and all of those guys over there would be great. He also has told me has as seen casualties of his friends and enemies and has done casualties himself. So sad.

They are all in my prayers on a daily basis and my prayers will continue until the hit home turf. I do understand his points, but fully agree with you. Get our kids home, damn it! The support they have here in the US is amazing. It might seem like Vietnam to them because they hear "us" saying we need to bring them home, get out of there. It's the war we want over. In my very own personal opinion, it will never be over. We cannot change the way countries think, or even on a smaller scale, the way the people of other countries feelings. C'mon BUSH, let's end this. Bring our troops home and protect our own!

I am not going to say anything I will regret (I am writing this publicly and I also want to keep the privacy/honor of my friend) but GOD!!!!!, they all want to come home! They dont even know what they are doing anymore. His answer he keeps on telling himself is "he is a solider, that is why" They are going crazy over there, he tells me so! He writes me these long rabbling emails about this and that. Alot of it I dont even want to read b/c its sometimes graphic.. I worry everyday about him. This is part of an email I got from him today: .but nothing can ever match to the horrors of war...you name all the bad sh-t...and afghanistan and iraq has it...sometimes you question why you do it...but everyday i tell myself that im here cuz im helping these oppressed people just to make sense of it...but do i really believe that?...f no!...but im soldier...alls i can do is do what im told regardless if i believe in it or not...I dont think there is a cure for seeing your buddies die, or seeing innocent people die, even dancing w/ death every night...nothing cures that i believe...I just keep my head up, and move on...a lot of the guys depend on me for leadership...and showing them that im breaking kills their morale...i have been holding up for this long...im pretty sure i'll be okay though...............its just hard..sometimes it just hurts, but i try to control my emotions...im pretty good at that...and im pretty sure you know that part about me.. So sad. This is the kind of stuff you dont hear/see about on TV and that is all I am going to say about that. It's horrible and breaks my heart. Be well Tavia

OMG it makes me cry! Not only will many have the physical scars, if they live at all, but the emotional damage being done cannot be measured, nor bandaged!

Tavia I will defiantly say a prayer for those men/women and families. Thank you for the post! Nicole

Thank you!

((((PRAYERS))))

Thanks.

My heart is filled with such sorrow for those men and women abroad. I will pray for him and his family and all those who serve. Take Care~~