One of the hardest things a parent can do is to send a child off to war. The second hardest thing is sending him back.
My son is an Army Cavalry Scout who is part of President Bush’s surge in Iraq. After nine months on the front lines, he got 18 days of home leave this month. We squeezed Thanksgiving, Christmas and his wedding into those few, precious days. Last week, after waiting for a delayed plane, his mother, new wife and I exchanged tearful hugs with him as he headed back for six more months of war.
Although my wife and I do not support this war, we have been outspoken in support of our son and the other soldiers who risk their lives daily. Some parents of soldiers think opposition to the war demeans the efforts of the 150,000 soldiers there and fortifies “the enemy.” But others believe the best way to support these brave young people is to work to get them out of there. It is a war we never should have started.
Before our son was sent to Iraq, the war was somewhat abstract for my wife and me. For many Americans it still is. Through letters, phone calls and e-mail from our son, along with conversations at home earlier this month, it has become very real.
During his time home, our son made the war more personal for others, too. He met for an hour with Mercury News reporters and editors, who appreciated his candid answers to their pointed questions. He was very natural, mature and authoritative. It was pretty emotional for Mom and Dad. We were very proud of him.
There have been many successes, as war goes. He’s been on sweeps through neighborhoods and captured people with weapons and bomb making material. He’s helped beat back ambushes and secure the perimeter around the homes of suspected insurgents. As a part-time tank and Humvee driver, he’s often in a convoy and therefore within yards of death or injury.
What we have learned since our son’s deployment is that the IEDs (improvised explosive device), ambushes and missile attacks were relentless for months. We learned how his base south of Baghdad was hit by a dozen insurgent missiles that killed a soldier 20 yards from our son. Forty-six more missiles were discovered just outside the base perimeter. In another incident, U.S. support helicopters, responding to an ambush, first fired on our son’s platoon. Luckily, none of them were hit.
We’ve learned that it is a daily struggle for soldiers to determine who is friend or foe among the Iraqis, including Iraqis they are supposed to be working with. He noted that many IEDs are found not far from Iraqi Army outposts or police stations. Another issue, in our son’s view, is that the Iraqi Army and police are at least a couple of years away from being effective at protecting the country.
And, we’ve learned about the daily sacrifices the soldiers make beyond risking their lives. During the summer, when the temperature reaches 130 degrees for days at a time, the soldiers are drenched in sweat within minutes of dressing. They must wear long sleeved camouflage shirts, gloves, and 60 pounds of gear that includes everything from water to ammunition.
Food at the combat bases is often so bad that when a dozen boxes of beef jerky, trail mix and snacks arrived, the 18 soldiers in my son’s platoon devoured them within three days. Fresh vegetables and fruit, staples for a California native, are almost non-existent.
So is privacy. The soldiers live in a tent 12 feet wide, 6.5 feet tall, and about 40 feet long, with only two feet between the cots. Many soldiers sleep with their iPods on to drown out the constant drum of generators, helicopters and tanks.
Our son was deployed about a month after basic training. He turned 19 while piloting a Humvee in a convoy. For the most part he likes the Army life and is proud to fight on behalf of his country. He has managed to maintain a good sense of humor and develop a healthy degree of skepticism about all things government.
He wants to do more to protect our country, but he’s not sure he’s doing that in Iraq. His view is that most of the Iraqi people want our soldiers there to help stem the violence … which he knows they have done.
But as a soldier’s parent, I ask: Is this war worth the cost? Especially when the Iraqi government, Army and police are making so little progress? Nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died there in the past five years and 40,000 have been wounded. The financial toll: nearly $500 billion and growing.
The Mercury News newsroom has sent his platoon nearly 20 boxes of food, socks, DVDs and extension cords. In a thank-you note, my son wrote, “Though sympathy is the last thing a soldier needs when out in sector for days at a time, support is.”
Support our troops. Pray and work for peace.
Stephen E. Wright (swright@mercurynews.com) is the editorial page editor and vice president of the San Jose Mercury News. Previous columns by Wright about his son’s deployment to Iraq can be found at www.mercurynews.com/opinion.
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