Posted on 11/25/2003 9:06:09 PM PST by Pokey78
Edited on 04/23/2004 12:06:10 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Here's to the men who risk their lives to keep us free.
With Thanksgiving here, and the first American troops to deploy for the Iraq War nearing their one-year anniversary overseas, it's a good time to remember some families in this country to whom the rest of us owe a great deal. Take the family of Sean Shields, a young American I encountered while embedded with the 82nd Airborne Division. Lt. Shields, currently stationed near Baghdad, is the third generation of his clan to serve in the U.S. Army airborne.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
RC, here is a wonderful article about our troops!
I'd pay good money to help serve Thanksgiving dinner in Pacific House Dining Hall in Osan, Korea. I'm sure the food will be great, and the 51st SVF will do a wonderful job.
/john
I'm glad you're there. Just keep your CTT scores up, and you'll do fine.
Most American warriors subscribe to the words of John Stuart Mill:
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
It's easy for critics on both the left and right to convince themselves that the U.S. is a decadent society, that our young people have gone soft, that we will never have another generation like the men who climbed the cliffs at Normandy.
That judgment, I'm here to report, is utterly wrong. We've got soldiers in uniform today whom Americans can trust with any responsibility, any difficulty, any mortal challenge. At the end of this strenuous year, we give thanks for them.
On the occasion of this Thanksgiving, we thank our men and women, military and municipal, in uniform.
At the end of this strenuous year, we give thanks for them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By this third post-911 Thanksgiving, more Americans are aware of the character and sacrifices of our troops and civilians serving.
By next Thanksgiving, God willing, the lesson will be learned by our press, as well.
To America's Soldiers
An open letter.
BY BARBARA J. MAKUCH
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 12:01 a.m. EDT
I want to thank you for my existence. I want to thank you for your sacrifices, and for your courage, because without your heroism, this world would indeed be a different place. Were it not for the brave soldiers who liberated my father from Dachau, and my mother and her family from the Nazi slaveholders, I would not be here today. Nor would millions of others, all of whom remain indebted to you.
My mother and her family lived under the boot of the Soviets, then became slave laborers for the Nazis. Beaten, starved and terrorized, they could only hope for freedom. My father died a young man. Four years of terror and torture in Dachau left its mark on him. My uncle died at the hands of the Soviets, a bullet in his chest because he refused to remove a cross from the wall. My grandfather died in the U.S.S.R., never having been allowed to leave. He never saw his wife, children or grandchildren again.
When American and Allied forces bombed Nazi Germany, the slaves, prisoners of war and concentration-camp inmates cheered. They were forced to work the fields and in the factories even as the bombers flew overhead. Yet they cheered. They knew that their liberation was at hand. Even as they knew they might not live to see their freedom, they cheered. The miserable existence that they endured under the boot of the Nazis and the Soviets would not break their spirit or resolve, or their love of the soldiers who were losing their lives to liberate them. They prayed for their liberators, never faltering in the belief that they would succeed.
I asked my mother what she thought of war. "It is a terrible thing, but if it means freedom to those who have none, if it means safety for the world, then there is no question what has to be done," She said. "Those who have not suffered under the terror of oppression, those whose lives have been privileged and free, will never understand the sacrifices of those who died for liberty and freedom. It is easy to criticize our leaders from the safety, warmth and comfort of their homes and mansions. While they eat the bread of America, and benefit from the democracy and freedom of speech afforded us by this great nation, they show the ultimate disrespect toward our President and our troops."
An elderly and wise woman, my mother is forever grateful for her life. She is ill, her body ravaged by the hell she went through as a young woman, yet she still has the fight in her that kept her a survivor. The values she instilled in me gave me the courage to serve my country, giving back a small part of what had been given to me.
As I look upon the faces of our military today, these courageous men and women, brave, compassionate yet fierce in their cause to liberate the Iraqi people, I pray for them all. American, British, Australian, Polish and the scores of others who are facing yet another tyrant. My heart swells with pride and love for those who have given up so much to make this world a better place.
There is no country in the world that can say Americans, when they came to liberate a land, forced our language, culture or religions on anyone. Those of us who chose to embrace this wonderful land do so wholeheartedly, without coercion or force. We do it because we are true patriots. We know what sacrifices were made for our freedom.
May God protect and keep you in his care so that you return to your loved ones. May your families have the support and love of this country we call land of the brave and the home of the free, and may the people of the world never forget the ultimate sacrifice of our troops.
Ms. Makuch received the FBI's Lewis E. Peters Memorial Award in 1992 for her two decades as a double agent spying on the Soviets.
~~~
An Ugly American
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so this column will be taking the day off (we'll be back Friday, though). If you haven't read Karl Zinsmeister's Thanksgiving tribute to America's servicemen, do. "We've got soldiers in uniform today whom Americans can trust with any responsibility, any difficulty, any mortal challenge," Zinsmeister writes. "At the end of this strenuous year, we give thanks for them."
Let's also take a moment to give thanks to Laurel Eby. We ran across Eby's name on the San Francisco Chronicle's Web site; she comes from San Jose and is a participant in Two Cents, "a pool of Bay Area residents we tap for comments and anecdotes." In this case, the Chronicle posed the odd question: "Is it wrong to root for the Iraqis?" Another participant, David Cutting of Truckee, unpacks the question and gives an answer that is spot on:
If you mean the barbarians that are murdering coalition soldiers, aid workers, and Iraqi police officers and government officials, then the question is too despicable to even deserve a reasoned answer. If you mean the majority of Iraq's population, then by all means, root for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Iraq. What could be more American?
Now, here is Laurel Eby's answer:
"I'm definitely torn, because I obviously don't want any more of our soldiers getting killed, but I also wouldn't mind the quagmire going on just long enough to ruin Bush's re-election chances."
OK, we know what you're thinking: Why in the world would anyone be thankful for this creep? Well, think about it. First of all, she unwittingly exemplifies the glory of American freedom. Since Sept. 11 we've heard a lot of carping from the anti-American left on the supposed "crushing of dissent." If that were true, Laurel Eby would be spending her days in a dungeon somewhere. In reality, she walks free and even gets her comments published in the newspaper. The Chronicle's editorial judgment is certainly open to question, but not the greatness of a country that is so boundlessly tolerant. Second, she reminds us that our country isn't perfect. We're proud to be American, but we're ashamed to share our nationality with someone so callous and self-absorbed. So thank you, Laurel Eby, for keeping us humble.
Why Alan Cohen Is Enraged
We noted last week that Saddam Hussein has become the O.J. Simpson of the Angry Left--people who figure that any enemy of President Bush must be a friend of humanity.
Specifically, they deny any possibility of a connection between Saddam and al Qaeda, regardless of the evidence. In a letter to the editor of the New York Times, however, one Alan Cohen of University City, Mo., argues that even if Saddam and al Qaeda are linked, it was wrong to liberate Iraq:
The question is not what was true but what those making the decision for war knew at the time, and how they handled intelligence-gathering.
Yes, it is possible that new evidence is now being or will be found to connect Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. That is proof that the administration did not have before the war. There is no doubt that the administration deluded itself and misled the public by not following standard intelligence vetting procedures, and this is what has enraged so many of us.
There's a catchy slogan for the Democratic presidential candidate next year: "It's the standard intelligence vetting procedures, stupid!"
At the end of this strenuous year, we give thanks for them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
