Let's juxtapose two stories. The first one is about our soldiers who are actually in Iraq. Not the myth, the men. I remember reading once that the guys who fought in WWII, most of them didn't have any real feel for being in a big battle of civilizations, for the destiny of the United States of America. But rather, they wanted to do their duty, put in their year, and then they wanted to come home. That always rang true to me. Of course, then you fast forward to Vietnam and pretty much everybody just didn't even want to go, never mind come home. But in Vietnam most did only one 12 month tour. The ones who had to do two, had a 24 month, that's a two year, rest period in between tours.
Does anyone understand just how radical the Iraqi war is being fought? Four tours???? Extremely short rest periods?
They want to come home. All of the platitudes in the world about not withdrawing because it might hurt the troops morale, is the biggest crock of self-justifying bullshit that I've ever heard.
Still, what may have been the worst moment of the war for Joe and Kelly came in April, when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that U.S. Army tours would be extended from 12 months to 15.
“His exact words were: ‘It better not be us. I will f---ing lose it,’” recalled Kelly. “And I thought, ‘Oh my God, is something in his brain going to snap?’”
Gut Check: Iraq war’s impact at home
Repeat deployments, extended tours add uncertainty to hardship of service
By Kari Huus
Reporter
MSNBC
Updated: 9:12 a.m. ET Sept 19, 2007
MIDLAND, N.C. - While generals and politicians debate strategy and funding for the Iraq war on Capitol Hill, the cost of the conflict is tallied in places like this quiet subdivision, where Kelly Bridson each night listens to her 10-year-old son’s bedtime prayers for his stepfather’s safety: “The light of God surrounds you. The love of God enfolds you. The power of God protects you. …”
Army Spc. Joe Bridson is stationed in the volatile city of Samarra, Iraq, about 80 miles north of Baghdad. The prayers could well be goodnight hugs if not for the vagaries of military service in the era of the volunteer army: Joe Bridson is now in the 14th month of what originally was to have been a four- to six-month deployment in Iraq.
Bridson’s situation is hardly unique. Scores of readers of msnbc.com’s Gut Check America project wrote of loved ones in similar situations, either repeatedly deployed to the combat zone or languishing there months after their deployments were to have ended.
Their stories put a human face on stark statistics showing that the U.S. military — a small force by historical standards — is stretched thin after more than four years in Iraq and six in Afghanistan. Repeated deployments of active military members and reservists and diminishing “dwell times” between postings to the war zone have taxed soldiers and taken a growing toll on the home front.
“Families are truly exhausted,” says Patricia Barron, who runs youth programs for the National Military Families Association. “They are starting to feel the stresses of separation more acutely.”
Kelly and Joe’s story is but one of thousands that illustrate how the lack of resolution plays out on a personal level.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20822561/
Does anyone understand just how radical the Iraqi war is being fought? Four tours???? Extremely short rest periods?
They want to come home. All of the platitudes in the world about not withdrawing because it might hurt the troops morale, is the biggest crock of self-justifying bullshit that I've ever heard.
Still, what may have been the worst moment of the war for Joe and Kelly came in April, when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that U.S. Army tours would be extended from 12 months to 15.
“His exact words were: ‘It better not be us. I will f---ing lose it,’” recalled Kelly. “And I thought, ‘Oh my God, is something in his brain going to snap?’”
Gut Check: Iraq war’s impact at home
Repeat deployments, extended tours add uncertainty to hardship of service
By Kari Huus
Reporter
MSNBC
Updated: 9:12 a.m. ET Sept 19, 2007
MIDLAND, N.C. - While generals and politicians debate strategy and funding for the Iraq war on Capitol Hill, the cost of the conflict is tallied in places like this quiet subdivision, where Kelly Bridson each night listens to her 10-year-old son’s bedtime prayers for his stepfather’s safety: “The light of God surrounds you. The love of God enfolds you. The power of God protects you. …”
Army Spc. Joe Bridson is stationed in the volatile city of Samarra, Iraq, about 80 miles north of Baghdad. The prayers could well be goodnight hugs if not for the vagaries of military service in the era of the volunteer army: Joe Bridson is now in the 14th month of what originally was to have been a four- to six-month deployment in Iraq.
Bridson’s situation is hardly unique. Scores of readers of msnbc.com’s Gut Check America project wrote of loved ones in similar situations, either repeatedly deployed to the combat zone or languishing there months after their deployments were to have ended.
Their stories put a human face on stark statistics showing that the U.S. military — a small force by historical standards — is stretched thin after more than four years in Iraq and six in Afghanistan. Repeated deployments of active military members and reservists and diminishing “dwell times” between postings to the war zone have taxed soldiers and taken a growing toll on the home front.
“Families are truly exhausted,” says Patricia Barron, who runs youth programs for the National Military Families Association. “They are starting to feel the stresses of separation more acutely.”
Kelly and Joe’s story is but one of thousands that illustrate how the lack of resolution plays out on a personal level.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20822561/
