Sunday, June 03, 2007
We observed Memorial Day last weekend unaware of the events of that day, events which give us even more reason to pause and consider the sacrifice of those who died in service to our country, and those who are likely to die in the coming months.
Ten American servicemen were killed — among them a 23-year-old SFA graduate, Army 2nd Lt. Kile Grant West and peace advocate Cindy Sheehan announced that she was giving up her fight to bring U.S. troops home.
West and two other soldiers died when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device — the military's name for a homemade bomb. They had been on their way to rescue the crew and soldiers on a downed helicopter, who died as well.
West graduated from SFA and the ROTC program in December, 2005, just four months after Sheehan began camping out in front of President Bush's ranch near Waco in protest of the war.
He was only a year younger than Sheehan's son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed in an ambush in 2004.
Sheehan's loss has to be every bit as painful as that suffered by Lt. West's family, or the "Gold Star Family," an organization so named because each member has lost of a family member in the war.
The death of any American soldier is a tragedy and a loss for all Americans — not just their families. Those who have fought and returned home alive can attest to the fact that there really is no victory in war, even when those in which we've been declared the "winner."
It's destructive and ugly and unspeakably sad, and to be avoided until and unless there is no other option.
That's why we're at a loss to understand the mindset of those who see Sheehan's effort to prevent other sons and daughters from dying in a war she doesn't believe in as being critical of the military.
A group named The Gold Star Family, so named because they've lost a family member in the war, issued a statement saying they were "very pleased to hear that Cindy Sheehan is ending her disgraceful campaign to discredit the United States military ..." according to an Associated Press story Wednesday.
Sheehan didn't campaign against our military — she campaigned against our politicians.
We believe that statements which link a lack of support for the war to a lack of support for the military, does more to hurt than help our troops.
One of the 28 local guardsmen being deployed to Iraq to serve as military police said in a story Wednesday that he hoped that people here at home would not give up supporting the troops.
"They need to know that it's appreciated," he said. "Keep the soldiers in your prayers and hope that at some time a peaceful resolution can be made."
We have no doubt that our soldiers will be kept in everyone's prayers, and that includes Cindy Sheehan.
A peaceful resolution, however, requires more than hope.
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