Conversation with a Soldier: Part II
Last month, I prompted the conversation with the first soldier, who was somewhere in his early 40’s, methodically circumspect, on his way home to see his wife and teenage kids after his latest tour in Iraq.
Last night, the second soldier both started and dominated the conversation.
He was in his mid-20’s, winging his way home from DC to Wichita via Chicago to see his parents. While he was in Iraq, a bomb had detonated, flipped over his Humvee, catching him underneath, cracking a rib and puncturing a lung. Later, as he was recovering in Germany, fluid built up in the injured lung and an infection set in, causing him to drop the weight on his six-foot-three frame from 175 to 125 pounds in a week’s time. He had added 30 of those pounds back, he said, by the time we sat next to each other in the airport restaurant – where I munched on fish and chips, worrying about the effect on my 42-year-old-heart, while the soldier scarfed down fried mozzarella sticks with blue cheese dressing, explaining that he was on a high-fat diet to replace the still-missing weight.
Despite his injury and ensuing struggle, he was convinced he and his fellow soldiers needed to be in Iraq, and he was intent on returning as soon as he was healed. He talked about the importance of breaking the pattern of the last several years, where they would secure one city only to see the sectarian terrorists move to the next city, in a never-ending circle of fight, secure, follow; fight, secure, follow – until they were back doing the same thing in the first city they had secured.
As with the other soldier, I told him my family, friends, and I appreciated everything they were doing for us, that I knew others felt the same way, and that despite the doubts and controversy surrounding the war, the general attitude toward soldiers returning from Iraq was much different, much kinder and gentler than the way in which many Vietnam vets were treated.
He said, “Yes, but it’s starting to change.�
(Continued at Central Sanity.)
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8 Responses to “Conversation with a Soldier: Part II”
“He talked about the importance of breaking the pattern of the last several years, where they would secure one city only to see the sectarian terrorists move to the next city, in a never-ending circle of fight, secure, follow; fight, secure, follow – until they were back doing the same thing in the first city they had secured.”
And that’s why US troops are tactically dominating the field, but can’t win strategically. 21k troops won’t make a difference. I don’t know how many soldiers are needed to keep all cities at the same time, I guess 300k minimum, more probably 500k. The US doesn’t have these troops. A draft for Iraq is out of the question, so victory isn’t possible. Period.
That is a disturbing post…in the part that continues at Central Sanity.
I too blame the media for fostering negative images of US troops (re. William Arkin’s rant about the troops… “Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform”) and not projecting positive ones.
A good example occurred last year in a suicide bombing in Mosul, I think, that killed a large number of children.
***The NYT – taking the story from AP – only reported that the suicide bomber target a group of parked soldiers, not killing any Americans but instead about 20-30 children.
***But if one read the AP original story, one saw that the NYT edited out two sentences: The soldiers were parked, because members of the Army Corps of Engineers were in the adjacent hospital consulting to rebuild it. The kids were around the troops because the troops were handing out candy.
Of course, for reasons of space, the NYT edited out the two sentences from the AP source that reflected well on the troops.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Gray’s comment about the so-called “Surge”. I don’t want to think of victory as “impossible”, but…
Your comment about the young girl bomber at “Central Sanity” was significant. Remember how during the first election in Iraq, a boy with Down’s Syndrome was strapped with a bomb and sent to a polling centre? The monsters who would use children in that way are those whom US troops are fighting — who torture, execute and boobytrap the bodies of captured US troops. Could a US soldier gun down a child with Down’s Syndrome, if he/she had to?
“I don’t want to think of victory as “impossibleâ€?, but…”
the odds are against the troops. They fight bravely, as this story shows, and they want to win, but there simply aren’t enough of them. And 21000 won’t change the odds, what’s needed is doubling or tripling the troop strength.
[...] Hat Tip to Moderate Voice, which led me to Central Sanity, where Conversation with a Soldier, Part #1 and Part #2 is found. [...]
“Conversation with a Soldier Part #1 and #2 at Conservative Times–Republican GOP news source. said:”
The fact a blog (not a person) is commenting here (and advertising in the comment section) is starting to really tick me off. If a real comment is made with a link to said blog I’d understand, but this is nothing more than someone making a comment and some bobblehead seconding it as if we were in a city council chambers.
I personally make a point to talk to soldiers in any airport I happen to be in (seems to be pretty often). Recently I had a conversation with a former Green Beret in Charlotte Int. Airport about Iraq. He was early 40′s been out since 1991 (Gulf War) was invovled in Somalia,Bosnia,Panama. He told me before Iraq started he was asked to come back in and refused, his reason was he knew this venture was going to go badly, and the people running it hadn’t a clue about the whole undertaking. This was a man that was invovled in the worst military zones in the world for over 15 years Korea DMZ included in the list of actual combat situations over 3000 hrs of combat(some can’t even be told to the public he told me) and he recognized the mess Iraq was going to be. He agreed with me that we should arm the government in Iraq and extract as soon as possible to concentrait on Afghanistan where they wanted to deploy him if he’d re-up. Afghanistan was his concern and agreed with me we can’t do proper operations because of lack of air/arty support there leaving units to firefight on equal terms with the bad guys rather than overwhlem as we should. His expertise was arty/air fire support direction, and he said himself that it is a total mess in Afghanistan (knows some guys that went back in that are currently there) and more likely your fire support might kill you instead.
Now comment about that anonamous blog entity, rather than pushing your site. And has anyone noticed it’s the right wing blogs going around here doing the “yeah I agree” rather than making a real comment? Probably don’t have much of real substance to add like their own blogs.
The military population is as diverse as the civilian population they come from: ONE soldier-ONE opinion. Thanks for sharing….
Sure its one person, but it also matches those who I talk to very well. Of course, so many are no longer attending classes here state side so I am more out of touch than I prefer. I miss my marine students especially, but don’t tell the army or Nat guard guys that. Lol.
What I hear/have heard is pretty much in line with most accounts. I.e. Morale is generally higher than the media indicates, althohgh that is still not great in some cases. But, that soldiers feel the strategy is basicaly a joke, and that they should be elsewhere (i.e. Afghanistan). I have not heard of any ‘baby killer’ instances, not that that is likely to come up, as I never thought to ask that… Hmm, I have seen a whole lot fewer ‘support the troops’ ribbons lately though…
“the odds are against the troops. They fight bravely, as this story shows, and they want to win, but there simply aren’t enough of them. And 21000 won’t change the odds, what’s needed is doubling or tripling the troop strength.”
Exactly, Gray. And I believe that is what most hurts troop morale — far more than anything the American media or protesters or whoever might be doing at home.