Questions and a Good Answer

[EddieS'04]

If you dont believe this dont take offense...





"Simply Put"



Cindy Sheehan asked President Bush, "Why did my son have to die in

**Iraq**?"



Another mother asked President Kennedy, "Why did my son have to die in

Viet Nam?"



Another mother asked President Truman, "Why did my son have to die in Korea?



Another mother asked President F.D. Roosevelt, "Why did my son have to

die at Iwo Jima?"



Another mother asked President W. Wilson, "Why did my son have to die on

the battlefield of France?"



Yet another mother asked President Lincoln, "Why did my son have to die

at Gettysburg?" *



* And yet another mother asked President G. Washington, "Why did my son

have to die near Valley Forge?"



Then long, long ago, a mother asked, "Heavenly Father, why did my Son

have to die on a cross outside of Jerusalem?"



The answers to all these are similar-- that others may have life and

dwell in peace, happiness and freedom.



Edited for spelling

 

[Dan Miller 3]

WOW!! Well said!

 

[Chet 02]

Yes....very well put!!!

 

[Bill V]

I'm not taking offense--but that's complete BS.



And if you don't believe THAT, don't take offense.

 

[Mark B]

I'm sure those words will be of great comfort to Mrs. Sheehan as she watches the Bush daughters party their way through young adulthood.



All the other wars mentioned had some type of draft or obligated service. Let's hear Bush make an appeal for a national draft. We're a country at war. Shouldn't ALL of of America's youth be pressed into service so that we "may have life and dwell in peace, happiness and freedom"?



No, you're right, it's way better enjoy our happy peaceful lives and let that small group of volunteers and their families carry the load. We've let Bush get away with that. Would we allow him make it a truly national sacrifice?

 

[Mark Grumpy]

uuummm, keyword there fy10 is volunteer. Mrs. Sheehan's son volunteered. As did the rest of the casualties in this war. As did many of the Minutemen from many wars back. Although the draft was enacted a few times in our brief history, and Selective Service Registration is required now, there were many in each war that were volunteers. And no one is forcing these kids to die for their country. Maybe the poor kid was trying to get away from Mrs. Sheehan and her ideals.



grump

 

[Thomas Rogers]

>> All the other wars mentioned had some type of draft or obligated service.



Right, meaning that in the Sheehan case, her son "elected" to serve, and do so at a time of unrest in the Middle East. Being a soldier means following orders, and the orders were to go fight, and those were orders that most of the country agreed with the president on handing down.



I feel for Mrs Sheehan, but I suspect, if her son could speak from the grave, he would say: "Mom please shut up! I am not a victim. I did what I wanted to do for my country!"



Or, Fy, are you saying that IF there were a draft, this war wouldn't have been fought?



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

>> Maybe the poor kid was trying to get away from Mrs. Sheehan and her ideals.



Grump, I suspect that the Cindy Sheehan's son signed up in no small part due to the ideals his mom gave him growing up. Those ideals have been corrupted since then...corrupted by a bunch of political hacks who publicize the grief of a mother for their own good.

 

[Mark B]

We've been at war for three years with the same core group of volunteer soldiers. Is there no sympathy out there for these men and women? Sure they volunteered but 3 years of multiple tours, tour extensions, stop-loss extensions, inactive call-ups and the like?



When does this become a national effort? Show some leadership Bush. It's been easy for you to commit and exhaust our volunteer forces. If this war on terror is important enough to expend our volunteer forces for 3 years and counting, then, it's important enough to involve the entire nation.



I mean draft, tax hikes, rationing, factory conversion, whatever it takes as a nation to protect our nation.



And if it's not that important, what are we doing?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Okay, those are different issues, Fy. I call that the "Let's Get the Job Done" issue.



Sure, let's get the job done! But, it seems really, really hard to get the job done when 50% of the population are pi$$ing in your ears all the time and for every one step forward claiming with a bullhorn that they see TWO steps back.



TJR

 

[Mark B]

TJR, It's not a different issue.



"Simply Put" makes the point that a few must die to protect us and our peaceful lives. I'm saying, in those earlier wars the burden of risk was carried more broadly by the American population.



Were the 'War on Terror' casualty burden forced on the rest of us or our family members, we wouldn't be so easily lead to 'elective' war. We couldn't write off the dead and maimed by saying 'Hey, they volunteered'. And, we wouldn't presume to explain the sacrifice of someone like Casey Sheehan away with a trivial homily like "Simply Put".

 

[Mark Grumpy]

"Simply Put" many of us on this board have "been there, done that". Could I have gotten out, "un-volunteered" after my first trip to the sand pit? Sure. But I didn't. I volunteered and went again. And again, and again... And I'm sitting here in camo' waiting for the next call - could be in the next three months. There are some folks here who have been "over there" more times than my five.



It is unfortunate that we are loosing good men and women, but the fact remains that we are bringing in as many people today as we were before Afghanistan/Iraq. Actually, the Air Force is forcing people out because we have too many folks volunteering to remain.



Mrs Sheehan should honor the memory of her son by stepping back and realizing that he made a sacrifice (THE sacrifice) for the good of many and his unselfish actions are in part what made this country what it is today. It is the continued sacrifices of the volunteers that will ensure it remains this way.



grump

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Fy, I'm confused because the only logical conclusion I can come to if I follow your line of reasoning regarding the "why my son?" question is that you assume "more dead", from "more of the population" and from "more social classes" would somehow satisfy those like Sheehan so that they wouldn't ask the question....that their son's death would then somehow seem "more fair".



I just don't think that. I think as a parent I would always question "WHY" my son had to die, and like most of the parents who have lost children in this way, I would hope that I find comfort in knowing that "My son died for a noble cause!", "doing what he wanted!"



Certain political hacks took that comfort away from Sheehan, and they did so without shame and remorse.



TJR

 

[Stephane Bolduc]

I think she was very pround the he volunteered to go find the WMD that were there with "irrefutable" evidence. I think she is mad that there was a secret agenda and the lack of preparation for it.



The preparation was good for WMD, not for conversion to democracy and war on terror.



I guess she doesn't like that her son (and the entire population) was lied too.

 

[Mark Grumpy]

Steph,

I think that more of us in the military would sympathize with her a little if she concentrated on the troops more than the self pity. It's all about her. How about those that are going to die? Just the humble opinion of a guy still serving.



grump

 

[Bill V]

"How about those that are going to die?"



That's the very reason she's pushing this--to try to prevent more deaths that aren't completely necessary.



Such efforts aren't self pity--they're attempting to save lives.



Last week, the Bush administration tried to close the discussion about the sale of the port security business to the United Arab Emirates company by basically saying, "Trust us, we've looked into it, and it's OK." Which was basically like when they said, "Trust us, we've looked into it, and Iraq has WMDs." It's no wonder that no one took their word on it this time around.

 

[Mark Grumpy]

Bill,

I don't think that is her cause. From my point of view, she makes my job harder. She is doing nothing for me or any one in my unit. We don't need the negativity she is creating. For morale purposes, for my family that is reading the negative comments that I have to fend off every day it is more harm than good.



Her question is not why are our children dying? It is why did my son die?



Not saying it's all her, just using her as an example because she came up already.



grump

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Hey Steph, when you can prove that conspiracy please impeach Bush. Given that he is a reportedly so stupid it shouldn't be hard to do. After all, Clinton was a scholar and he was able to be impeached over lying about a BJ.



So, BillV, we are there now. What's the plan for getting out? I'm all ears!



TJR

 

[Mark B]

TJR, you're confused because, either, I'm a terrible writer or you're missing my point. I guess the first leads to the second.



I'm not trying to make any point about Cindy and Casey Sheehan. They were just the example of sacrifice used in "Simply Put" to represent the Iraq War. If they'd used Pat Tillman's mother and Afghanistan, I'd have gone with that.



This was my original question and what I've been bouncing around since: We're a country at war. Shouldn't ALL of of America's youth be pressed into service so that we "may have life and dwell in peace, happiness and freedom"?







Grump and others are picking up the slack. Should they have to? How would the war debate shift if all America felt their burden?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

>> Shouldn't ALL of of America's youth be pressed into service so that we "may have life and dwell in peace, happiness and freedom"?



Not necessarily. Not if not needed.



Why should they if all are not needed?



That's a serious question.