Not to be a downer,

[whometense]

but Beverly Beckham wrote a beautiful piece for today's Boston Globe about the Iraq war - and what it is costing some of us.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/10/16/on_home_front_war_out_of_focus/

On home front, war out of focus
Losses mount, attention wanes

By Beverly Beckham | October 16, 2005

He was 19 and his name was Shayne Cabino and he lived in my town and he was killed on Oct. 6 in Iraq, one of at least 1,965 members of the US military now dead since the war began.

Cabino's family, too distraught to talk, held a news conference at the Canton police station, where a friend read a statement saying that ''Shayne wanted to make the world a better place" and that he ''was extremely proud of the uniform he wore and the fact that he was serving his country."

Shayne Cabino was a tall, skinny boy who graduated from high school only 16 months ago and gave his life for his country on a roadside in Iraq. ''An improvised explosive device," jury-rigged to kill American soldiers, exploded, killing him and three other young Marines, Nicholas Cherava, 21, Patrick Kenny, 20, and Jason Frye, 19.

A few words, a few prayers, a plaque somewhere for all of them.

And the beat goes on.

I remember being a child and learning in social studies that in ancient times girls were often plucked out of their lives and burned on an altar to appease the gods. And I remember thinking how lucky I was that I didn't live in those days.

Now I am old, and I think, only the altar has changed. Kids are still being plucked out of their lives and sacrificed...

Yesterday afternoon an army recruiter called to talk to my younger son, who happened to be home at the time, and happened to answer the phone. The recruiter asked what he's up to, where he's going to college, and if he's happy there. My son is a strong minded and intelligent young man, and politely told the guy no thank you. But it got me thinking - once again - about Charlie Rangel's plea. I don't want any of my kids fighting in that misbegotten war. But it's just too easy to put aside thoughts of the kids who are "plucked out of their lives and sacrificed." And of their parents, in the midst of whose lives an IED has exploded, and changed everything in one instant.

[fedupinBushcountry]

1. On your question

Not or my husband, and this is from a retired military family. I too worry about the draft, thats how myn husband came to serve in the first place. He was afraid of being drafted so he joined the Navy, luckily he came out of Nam safe but some of his shipmates did not.

[TayTay]

2. We know, it's not a downer, it's the whole reason for being here

And it's very relevant. We do the photo pics and the light-hearted stuff because I truly think we would go crazy without it. The war and it's victims and 'heroes' are never far from my thoughts. I think about it when I open my paycheck and wonder why I got a tax cut and the kid in my town who had his leg blown off in Iraq and lost the use of his arm has to worry about VA services. (If the vets are heroes, why don't we treat them like heroes? Why do we charge them for their meals when they are in-hospital? Why don't we fund the GI Bill? and so forth and so on.)

I wanted John Kerry to be President because I truly believe that he cares about the people who fight our wars, cares about what happens in the places where we fight our wars and because he knows what it's like to fight for a confused country that doesn't know what it wants in a war. He knows. He is wise in that. When my heart bled last November, it didn't bleed for me. It bled for all the good that is now post-poned because the wrong guy won. Bush is callous and doesn't care about the hired help. Kerry cares about our people and their families. He knows what it's like to write letters home to relatives who have lost their loved ones. He knows what it means. I cried because of that. I also have hope because I still believe he can be a voice of sanity to help resolve that war.

I can't steal pics from this website. But go here. This is what I think about when I think about Iraq.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/dimitrios-gavriel.htm

Go to this thread. See the first pic with Sen. Kerry in it. See that face? He knows. It's etched in that face. I don't think he has forgotten what the 'War in Iraq' debate is all about. It's about that kid who died and about his mother and all the others left behind. It shows in his face. As it would in mine.

[Island Blue]

4. Beautifully said Tay Tay.

[whometense]

5. Thanks for that link.

That picture of Kerry's face says it all. I deleted the last line of my original post because it didn't seem to fit well with what I was thinking.

But I'll put it here. What parent would want to entrust their precious child to the care of a commander-in-chief as self-absorbed and infantile as the one now in office? And that's the killer about what those Swift Boat liars said (now fresh in my mind because of tonight's c-span show). They said Kerry is not fit to command the troops? That is so sick it goes beyond words. After 35 years those people are still blinded by their hatred.

[FreedomAngel82]

7. It is heartbreaking

:( And Bush hasn't atteneded one funeral yet. He doesn't care about anybody but himself. If only Kerry was our leader as he should rightfully be. *sigh* :(

[jillan]

8. Thanks for that link Tay Tay

Dimitros was such a young, handsome man. He had his whole life
infront of him. Everytime I hear of another soldier getting killed in this war of lies, I hurt inside.

I wonder if Kerry and Kennedy knew the family?
Either way, you could tell in Kerry's face that his heart was there.
This was NOT a photo-op, as someone else:grr: may have viewed it.

[Island Blue]

3. Wow, thanks for posting.

I was really struck by the line, "This war is like a radio playing in a distant room". That sums it up so well. There are days when I'm ashamed to say I don't think about what's going on in Iraq and I shouldn't allow that to happen. I see the faded yellow ribbon magnets on the backs of cars and SUVs but they've lost their meaning. They no longer remind me of the war, only of my anger at the Bush administration*.

Thanks again for posting.

[whometense]

6. I was struck by that line too.

It just felt so true. Every time a new casualty is mentioned in the news I feel a pang of guilt that my concerns for my children are not wrapped up in their daily survival. Unlike so many others.