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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 12, 2004 A new way to support troops: bring them home By Susan Lloyd Ashland My eldest son will soon be going Afghanistan or Iraq. He is an infantry officer in the U.S. Marines. "What? He enlisted?" you ask. "He must be a super-patriot. Wonderful! We've got to fight those terrorists!" Or, "He must be gung-ho � why go in when he didn't have to? My son would go to Canada if there were a draft �" But he didn't join the Marines solely for patriotism, but also for physical and mental challenge sadly lacking in contemporary culture. He isn't really gung-ho. He's a historian, university graduate and worked a year after college, finding himself surrounded by non-achievers and dot.comers living lives of "no consequence." He wouldn't go to Canada if there were a draft. Why should the privileged avoid service when common guys - the ones you'd have a beer with down at the bar - don't have the savvy or economic circumstances to escape? The military precludes soldiers from publicly expressing political opinions. But through Military Families Speak Out, I know that many troopers and their families do not support the present conflict. Not to say these folks are "anti-war." My own family has D-Day veterans whom we proudly saluted during a recent visit to Normandy Beach. The Iraq war is different. Its doomed, futile and irresponsible, defies the U.N. charter, and deprives soldiers that die there of a meaningful death. Why, with little international support, have we invaded a country which didn't contain bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban, or WMD? That the administration has no exit plan or refuses to admit a mistake is especially appalling. Why is there such "tame" outrage against this war? There are protests, but they receive minimal media coverage. With no draft and "only" 1,100 Americans dead, few families have, as yet, been affected. I think of our favorite saying these days: "Support the troops." What does this mean? As a Marine mother, it means this: Support them by expressing outrage over the current Iraq debacle. How can anyone tell me he supports the war when he doesn't have a son or daughter in the conflict? Returning soldiers say we can support the troops but not the war. Voiceless, they ask us to put an end to this ill-gotten fiasco. Tonight my son phoned. It was bad news. His best friend, his training buddy at Quantico, was dead. He'd been killed in Baghdad, two weeks before coming home. I'd met the downed friend at OCS graduation. He was a handsome, muscled youth. So beautiful in his blue Marine jacket and white pants. His life ahead of him as he received his lieutenant's bar, shook the Sergeant Major's hand, and strode confidently off the stage. A thousand inadequate adjectives came to mind. Unreal. Surreal. Unbelievable. Then ... Horrible. Tragic. Sickening. This was my wake-up call. Recently, I headed for the Jacksonville Inn when the president was in town. Middle-class moms were represented, waving placards. With the Bush campaign's control of adverse publicity, I'm sure our chants of "Bring the Soldiers Home" didn't mix well with the inn's fine cuisine. Our rally was soon quashed by 50 riot squad who pushed harmless crowd members and pelted them with pepper bullets. It was like a scene out of Star Wars. What "liberty" will my son fight for in the Middle East if my rights are being suppressed at home? I've headed for the streets to protest this war. Until you have a son or daughter in harm's way, you may not understand my alarm. But please don't wait until 50,000 die - as we did with Vietnam - before you take action or let your voice be heard. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams