Memorial Day...

Memorial day has always been a time of sadness for me.  My best recollections were when my uncles got home from Korea only to take off for Viet Nam.  I thank you Lord for keeping them safe and returning them all home to us!  Some of the young men and nurses didn't make it home.  I was such a little girl in those days.  Nam dragged on and as a young teen I took on names of MIAs and POWs which I wore on bracelets.  My goal was to give the bracelets back.  The POW bracelets found their way to the families but the MIA bracelets sat in a drawer for 3 years, then in a box out in one of my garages, then were lost.  The point I am making is that the MIAs never made it home, dead or alive.  Politically, I found it difficult to speak about in those days. I guess I still do.  I had family in intelligence and even they didn't say much about what happened.  Those willing to talk had so many different things to say, but all said that Nam wasn't worth it.  Years later, one of them, a high ranking man in military intelligence said this war is not what it is being billed as.  He told me quite simply it was about O I L.  Never had I heard such skepticism out of him. Skepticism isn't the right word.  Mmm, never had I heard such disgust toward any administration quite like I heard it in his voice toward this administration, from the commander in chief on down.  He was not happy that our soldiers were sent to Iraq.  I guess this is where I begin to tell you why I am writing.

I am against war.  It conjurs up hate inside me, hate for all who profit off of wars and all who encourage war.  I am against sending our people intentionally to another country that isn't attacking us.  I haven't forgot about the attack made on us by terrorists.  Iraq did not attack us.  So we did the next best thing, we decided that since terrorists attacked us, there was no time like the present to rid one of the countries of a terrible leader who took advantage of his people, even torturing and killing them.  We didn't pick Ruwanda or Chechnya; we didn't pick Belarus or Pakistan; we didn't pick China or Zimbawee to bring democracy to; we chose Iraq. 

Then we remembered we were going after terrorists so while in Iraq we could do that too, even though the terrorists who took out the towers came from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Afghanistan. We knew they would find us and gift us with some legitimacy for being in Iraq. It seems that where ever Americans are, the terrorists aren't too far behind.  The terrorists depend on us to help them get out their message and we have depended on them to give us an excuse to be at war.

So how do I reconcile this with the dedication of our soldiers?  For me, it is easy.  All who know where I stand on the war think I'm irrational for supporting our soldiers, unless they, like me, have experience with those in active duty.  The soldiers I know are dedicated to America.  They, without having to be asked, believe they cannot rest until they bring a choice to those around the world, a choice for freedom they hope. Yes! They really believe this.  They believe it so much they are prepared to give up their lives for this choice.  They don't have time to research the information as to why we are really there or why we shouldn't be.   In their patriotic hearts they are laying their lives down because they are honored to do so.  They believe America is the best country in the world and wish everyone had an America to go home to.  Yes they do.  I'm with them.  I love the freedoms we have here, the rights to voice our concerns and the people are awesome.  We are worth loving.  I love them for this.  I love our soldiers.  They are selfless and this in itself is noble. 

Please remember that while this administration might have nefarious reasons for being at war, our soldiers have different reasons, honorable reasons.  On this Memorial Day, think healthy good thoughts for our people overseas, won't you please?