This morning while watching Good Morning America they focused on a story about a soldier who is stationed in Tikrit, Iraq; and his family who is in Georgia. I don’t generally write about politically charged issues such as this because in my opinion both sides of the story have valid issues. The more I hear about our soldiers dying the more my head tells me we need to get the heck out of there and leave the Iraqi’s to take care of their own issues.
As with everything there are always two sides to the story. As I have mentioned before, I live/work near the home of Army Aviation. I deal with soldiers and soldier families on a daily basis and have done so for all of the last six years. Over the years I have seen a lot of soldiers come and go, and most of them return at some point, witch is rather odd in a way. It doesn’t happen very often in the military lifestyle. Anyhow, every soldier I have spoken to that has already done a tour in Iraq WANT to go back. At first I found this rather odd. Why on earth would anyone want to put their lives in danger like that?
The answer was stated on GMA this morning. Every soldier I have spoken to has said the same thing. It’s not about going over there and putting their lives in danger; it’s about going over there and making a DIFFERENCE.To quote one soldier, “It’s kind of scary, but at the same time, very rewarding.”
We hear everyday about the soldiers who were killed but we very rarely hear about all the good work the soldiers are doing. We don’t hear about the soldier who received a care package with a teddy bear in it, who in turn gives that teddy bear to a child who has never had one. We don’t hear about the soldiers who have helped build a school for children who have never gone to school, or building houses for people who are homeless. We don’t hear about the Medic’s who have saved the lives of countless Iraqi’s. We don’t hear about all the GOOD things that are going on in Iraq or how our American soldiers are trying to make a difference and change the perception of how Iraqi’s look at the world, and at life.
My heart goes out to every family out there who is dealing with a family member being in Iraq
(or anywhere else for that matter), especially the kids who are missing their mommies or daddies. My heart cries for every soldier that is lost. I hope that today all will say a prayer for every soldier who is out there in this big world of ours defending what they believe in, and honor their decision for doing so.
Well said.