Troops Deserve Our Support
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
It was 7:15 a.m. as I stood at the corner of Center and Indiana streets.
It was moving, really. A fleet of police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing shattered the silence of the quiet downtown scene and provided a well-deserved escort. The twinkling of the downtown Christmas decorations added to the feel of the event.
The interior lights were on inside the buses, and I looked into them as they drove by.
I could see faces.
I could see young men waving to those of us assembled along the street.
The guardsmen inside the buses looked confident - self-assured.
I tried to put myself in their shoes for a moment and it was difficult to think about their future.
They were headed for some training, then back for the holidays, then headed for some more training. Finally, around March or April, they will be off to Iraq.
The difficulty for me came not so much from where they were going. Don't misunderstand. Despite recent reductions in the number of suicide bombs and improvised explosive devices blowing up, Iraq remains a very dangerous place.
I wouldn't wish a tour in Iraq on anyone.
But what made me feel the most empathy was what they were leaving behind.
The thought of leaving family, friends, job - a whole way of life - seemed overwhelming to me.
And the fact that all of the guardsmen in those buses - every one of them - were volunteers made me feel proud.
I was proud that our country produces men who are willing to leave their families and risk their lives and put themselves through financial and emotional hardships to protect the rest of us.
You're free to disagree with W and the war. You're free to burn the flag. You're free to join the moveon.org crowd or the CodePink anti-war protests.
But you need to remember, you have those freedoms in large part due to the sacrifices of people like those I saw Wednesday morning in those buses.
Some people like to point out that burning the flag is constitutionally protected freedom of expression.
That's true. That's the current interpretation of the Supreme Court.
But when people say that soldiers fought and died for their right to burn the flag, it makes me chuckle.
Those people should go ask a soldier who's fought for this country what he thinks about flag burning.
Back in 2005, the anti-war crowd actually protested at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Thousands of people involved in the Iraq war are being treated there, including many who were wounded in battle.
The protesters set up directly in front of the main entrance, where family members of patients couldn't help but see them. And they set up on Friday evening, a popular time for family and friends to visit wounded soldiers.
They carried signs with slogans like, "Maimed For A Lie."
One of the protesters was asked by Cybercast News Service if he thought this could be offensive to soldiers and their families.
"I am more offended by the fact that many were maimed for life. I am more offended by the fact that they (wounded veterans) have been kept out of the news."
So the guy concedes that it's offensive to soldiers and their families, but he apparently thinks it's worth it to make his point.
Cybercast also talked to Kevin Pannell, who was treated at Walter Reed. He lost both legs after an ambush grenade attack near Baghdad in 2004.
Pannell, a member of the Army's First Cavalry Division, called the protesters "distasteful."
When he was a patient at the hospital, Pannell said he tried to ignore the anti-war activists camped out in front of Walter Reed. Then he saw something that enraged him.
"We went by there one day and I drove by and they had a bunch of flag-draped coffins laid out on the sidewalk. That, I thought, was probably the most distasteful thing I had ever seen. Ever.
"You know that 95 percent of the guys in the hospital bed lost guys whenever they got hurt and survivors' guilt is the worst thing you can deal with."
Pannell said other veterans recovering from wounds at Walter Reed share his resentment.
"We don't like them and we don't like the fact that they can hang their signs and stuff on the fence at Walter Reed," he said.
"The wounded veterans are there to recuperate. Once they get out in the real world, then they can start seeing that stuff (anti-war protests). I mean Walter Reed is a sheltered environment and it needs to stay that way."
The irony is striking.
These people, by exercising their freedoms, are offending the very people who sacrificed so much to secure those freedoms.
We have great freedom, to be sure. But with great freedom comes great responsibility. Some of the stuff the anti-war crowd is pulling is just irresponsible.
Our troops deserve nothing but our support and gratitude.[[In-content Ad]]
It was 7:15 a.m. as I stood at the corner of Center and Indiana streets.
It was moving, really. A fleet of police cars with lights flashing and sirens wailing shattered the silence of the quiet downtown scene and provided a well-deserved escort. The twinkling of the downtown Christmas decorations added to the feel of the event.
The interior lights were on inside the buses, and I looked into them as they drove by.
I could see faces.
I could see young men waving to those of us assembled along the street.
The guardsmen inside the buses looked confident - self-assured.
I tried to put myself in their shoes for a moment and it was difficult to think about their future.
They were headed for some training, then back for the holidays, then headed for some more training. Finally, around March or April, they will be off to Iraq.
The difficulty for me came not so much from where they were going. Don't misunderstand. Despite recent reductions in the number of suicide bombs and improvised explosive devices blowing up, Iraq remains a very dangerous place.
I wouldn't wish a tour in Iraq on anyone.
But what made me feel the most empathy was what they were leaving behind.
The thought of leaving family, friends, job - a whole way of life - seemed overwhelming to me.
And the fact that all of the guardsmen in those buses - every one of them - were volunteers made me feel proud.
I was proud that our country produces men who are willing to leave their families and risk their lives and put themselves through financial and emotional hardships to protect the rest of us.
You're free to disagree with W and the war. You're free to burn the flag. You're free to join the moveon.org crowd or the CodePink anti-war protests.
But you need to remember, you have those freedoms in large part due to the sacrifices of people like those I saw Wednesday morning in those buses.
Some people like to point out that burning the flag is constitutionally protected freedom of expression.
That's true. That's the current interpretation of the Supreme Court.
But when people say that soldiers fought and died for their right to burn the flag, it makes me chuckle.
Those people should go ask a soldier who's fought for this country what he thinks about flag burning.
Back in 2005, the anti-war crowd actually protested at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Thousands of people involved in the Iraq war are being treated there, including many who were wounded in battle.
The protesters set up directly in front of the main entrance, where family members of patients couldn't help but see them. And they set up on Friday evening, a popular time for family and friends to visit wounded soldiers.
They carried signs with slogans like, "Maimed For A Lie."
One of the protesters was asked by Cybercast News Service if he thought this could be offensive to soldiers and their families.
"I am more offended by the fact that many were maimed for life. I am more offended by the fact that they (wounded veterans) have been kept out of the news."
So the guy concedes that it's offensive to soldiers and their families, but he apparently thinks it's worth it to make his point.
Cybercast also talked to Kevin Pannell, who was treated at Walter Reed. He lost both legs after an ambush grenade attack near Baghdad in 2004.
Pannell, a member of the Army's First Cavalry Division, called the protesters "distasteful."
When he was a patient at the hospital, Pannell said he tried to ignore the anti-war activists camped out in front of Walter Reed. Then he saw something that enraged him.
"We went by there one day and I drove by and they had a bunch of flag-draped coffins laid out on the sidewalk. That, I thought, was probably the most distasteful thing I had ever seen. Ever.
"You know that 95 percent of the guys in the hospital bed lost guys whenever they got hurt and survivors' guilt is the worst thing you can deal with."
Pannell said other veterans recovering from wounds at Walter Reed share his resentment.
"We don't like them and we don't like the fact that they can hang their signs and stuff on the fence at Walter Reed," he said.
"The wounded veterans are there to recuperate. Once they get out in the real world, then they can start seeing that stuff (anti-war protests). I mean Walter Reed is a sheltered environment and it needs to stay that way."
The irony is striking.
These people, by exercising their freedoms, are offending the very people who sacrificed so much to secure those freedoms.
We have great freedom, to be sure. But with great freedom comes great responsibility. Some of the stuff the anti-war crowd is pulling is just irresponsible.
Our troops deserve nothing but our support and gratitude.[[In-content Ad]]
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