I don’t know where my Soldier Son is. The last time I got a message from him he said his unit was pushing to another area. He was vague about where that would be, but I know it’s an area where there is a lot of fighting right now.
I’ve gone to his MySpace account to see when the last time he logged in was - it hasn’t been updated. I’ve emailed his girlfriend knowing he’s likely to get in touch with her before I hear from him. She hasn’t heard from him. My daughter hasn’t heard from him.
It really hit me when I got his orders in the mail. He sent them to me for safe keeping and ‘just in case’. Just in case. That’s what really got me. The ‘just in case’. I tried to read the orders, but they looked like they had been xeroxed way too many times and were barely legible. The part I could read was his name, rank and the statement that he’s deployed in the Global War on Terror. That got me too.
The Global War on Terror. Reading that on his orders made it very much more real for me. The Global War on Terror and just in case. Those phrases really bothered me.
When I’m watching (more like listening) to the news and hear about IEDs and bombs and this many have been killed and/or wounded, I find myself just listening enough to hear whether any were Americans. Does that sound cold? It probably does. It probably is. But all I really want to know is that our Soldiers are okay. Beyond that, I don’t want to hear it any more.
On one hand I am obsessed with the news of the war and on the other I find myself averting my eyes from the horrors of it.
When I hear that the al-islamofascists have put out yet another tape of their disgusting medieval abuses and tortures of U.S. military Soldiers or civilians from anywhere I feel my anger towards them building. When I hear their fascist hate-filled rhetoric I just want to scream.
When I hear the hate-filled ignorant rhetoric of our enemies within who just don’t GET IT, I want to scream even more. These are the worst. They are speaking against their own people, their own country.
The main stream media is the worst. I listen to them put out propaganda AGAINST our own country and it is infuriating. It puts our troops in a much more dangerous position. Appeasement does nothing but prolong suffering and conflict. You can avoid conflict, but it only leads to unavoidable conflict. How they can do that and sleep at night is beyond my understanding.
I keep telling myself that my son is well trained and a good Soldier. He certainly knows how to take care of himself and his men. I tell myself that the streets of many U.S. cities are more dangerous than the streets of Baghdad. I tell myself that many more U.S. sons are killed in car accidents than in Iraq. I tell myself a lot of things, but I still am hyper-vigilent in watching what is happening over there.
How does a parent manage having a child over there in harms way? I know there are many others out there who are going through the same thing. I know that we deal with what we have to deal with. I know. It doesn’t make it any easier.
This is just a stream of consciousness vent.
Beth, I KNOW what you’re going thru sweetie, my Son has been home a year now but the whole time he was in Iraq I was on pins and needles, I don’t think I slept more than 2 or 3 hours at a time the entire year, and sometimes his ‘duty’ made it impossible for us to talk to him for several days at a time…
God love ya kiddo, my heart goes out to you, and we WILL be offering our prayers for his safety and your peace of mind…
Now I have an idea of what I put my folks thru when I disappeared for weeks at a time now…
I had one advantage over a lot of parents I guess, I had ‘other’ contacts in Iraq, one was a buddy of mine that was on staff with a General officer, I could get really good updates thru them and another was a ‘long lost’ buddy that turned up in Iraq as a civilian contractor, he kept me updated too…
I wish ALL parents had those contacts available to them, if my friends were still in Iraq I would gladly ask them to look in and see what they could tell us but they are all home now too…
Keep your chin up Beth, he’s well trained and with some good troops… Positive thoughts Gal, positive thoughts…
Major hugs sweetie. I understand completely. I’ve finally trained the SGM not to just say “Have to go, will call you back” and hang up. Panic sets in for the time span it takes for him to call back … then I find out it was something like the dog getting out of the FOB, and not the 300 Taliban men coming over the wall my mind created during the wait.
God - give Beth comfort, keep son safe and oh nudge him to call home.
God - give Beth comfort, keep son safe and oh nudge him to call home. Stolen from Above.
Beth None of us can promise you anything but our prayers. Those you have…
Thank y’all. That is so kind. I know you KNOW how it feels.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your son.
…indeed!
Blessings,
Joe S
Beth, you and your son are in my prayers! God is watching over you!
Beth,
I’m right there with you. We endured our son’s deployements to both Iraq, and later, Afghanistan, with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He told me recently, “I’ve done some bad things, Dad.”
I replied, “No son, you’ve done some dirty work. There’s a difference.”
I hope this finds you with news of your son’s whereabouts and safety. There’s really nothing anybody can say to a parent in this situation save for, “I’m right there with you. Every other car coming up the driveway was, in my nightmares, a government vehicle with a casualty assistance officer and a chaplain.” But, alas, he made it through, and we go to the airport on Monday to finally hold our son in our arms.
It concerns me that you don’t know of any means to contact your son; to find his status. You should be able to contact his rear element; I’ve been in contact with my son’s brigade sergeant major. If I can be of any assistance, please post your son’s unit; maybe I, or somebody, can get you the information you need to contact your son/your son’s unit.
Rick Downey
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Beth, you and Josh are in my prayers. I know you are worried so I will ask the Lord to give you peace and to put a hedge of protection around Josh.
Keep us posted.
Love you.
Our Soldier Sons - God Watch Over Them…
Seeing the self-interest, stupidity and political posturing masquerading as patriotism and scholarly intellect turns my stomach. . . .If the idiot leftwingers could have been non-partisan and truly patriotic long enough to support our country through t…
You know we ALL worry about him being in Iraq. He’s on our church prayer list - and on our personal one as well. As are you. Love you! By the way - I wrote a post about this post. I figured the more people who know and who can pray, the better.