A travel vignette
 

Please, please, please let us not make this into a brawl about Bush, Iraq, war, etc. etc. But I thought I would share a moment with you and invite others to share other moments they may have experienced.<BR><BR>I was on my way to a funeral last weekend and already pondering serious issues. I checked into the airport and found myself surrounded by very young men in camouflage fatigues, with shaven heads, and carrying two or more duffels. They appeared to be shipping out all over the East Coast and who knows where thereafter. At least a dozen were on my flight to Phila. <BR><BR>I sat in the gate waiting area watching the CNN Airport TV monitors showing the anti-war demonstrations around the country. I had a flashback of the demonstrations 40 years ago when the young men were my own age. Now I am the age of their mothers. The young service men appeared not to notice the TV reports -- most were dozing, some were in the bar areas. I sat behind one of them and thought about how his bald head reminded me of my son's head at birth. It made me think of their mothers. And without making any comment pro or con about their mission, I certainly was feeling how incredibly difficult this world is.

Amen, JMJ! (went to Catholic school, too, didja?) War sucks...don't care whether it's &quot;justified&quot; or not, war sucks...

JMJ,<BR>Thanks for posting. The world is incredibly difficult. And complex. And dangerous. <BR><BR>Much more so than we thought on Sept. 10th. Let's pray for those soldiers who defend us.

That is very touching JMX. I have a son in the Navy. I also remember the demonstrations of long past. Histoy does repeat itself. Sad situation.

<BR>JMJ<BR>You put this very well. It is heartbreaking to see these young men and women leaving their families and homes and not knowing what will happen. As always, it is such a waste! <BR>And I too, as a mother, see these recruits as the children we all have, going into harms way for the United States. <BR>They deserve the utmost respect for that!

As a military spouse...thank you everyone for keeping this civil.

Did anyone see Rumsfeld's comment that draftees &quot;are of no value&quot;.<BR><BR>He disparages every young kid that was drafted and died in past wars. <BR> <BR>

So much for it being civil.....

It's not only the younger troops to be concerned about. How about the reserve troops in their mid thities leaving established jobs and families behind. Now to justify an attack the regime is insisting on interviewing the scientists. What next, pro choice advocates?<BR>I was on a destroyer in Korean waters during the war there and I am opposed to a war in Iraq.

It's called a VOLUNTEER army, people.

We all know it's a volunteer army. That doesn't mean that this particular military action is right or necessary. I have a brother who I love very much who's spent 18 years in the Marine Corps, serving his country, and this weekend he's going to Kuwait. I may never see him again. I'm heartbroken about this .. more than anything I want him to come home safely. I'm completely against this whole thing because I think it's immoral and unjustified. I appreciated reading JMJ's words, I only hope there are more people in this country with the same understanding that we're sending loved ones off overseas to an unknown fate.

I think cooler heads will prevail and the expected invasion of Iraq will be put on hold.<BR><BR>I think SH will make concessions (exile?) and the U.S. forces will stand down. <BR><BR>Let's hope I'm right.<BR><BR>Regards,<BR><BR>MM

I_Remember has taken those words out of context.<BR>Go stir up trouble somewhere else, loser.

Yes George...thank you for clarifying that.<BR><BR>On another note...<BR><BR>Everyone is entitled to their opinions on the war issue...but please do not slam people because they have a different opinion. <BR><BR>As far as reservists...they knew the possibilities when they agreed to it. Being shipped out is part of being in the military. If people don't want to do that then they should not join. Just my opinion.

Sorry JMJ that, in spite of your pleadings we can't seem to keep this in line with the desired tone.<BR><BR>As for me, no stories like yours to report. I'm most often led to think about my friend, a new mother (traveled to China last month to pick up her two-year-old adoptive daughter), who's expecting to be called up from active reserve any day now. And I think of my son, not yet 16, and clueless to the realities he my be facing in a few years.

Your comments brought these thoughts / experiences, sometimes counter to each other.<BR><BR>My neighbor's husband died commanding a sub during the cold war. To this day, she still shops at the commissary and carries the career soldier's outlook. Once, she got very upset when she did not think I was going to vote: &quot;My Husband Died So You Have The Right To Vote,&quot; she yelled one notable Tuesday. <BR><BR>As a kid, the anti-war effort seemed to me a generational thing (Long Haired Hippie Peace Creeps Vs. Consertive Establishement). This time, I think we've ain't seen nothing yet! There are so many, many more media outlets now that covering anti and pro war rallies will fill up our airwaves. <BR><BR>The Rumsfeld quote - I did watch his entire comment, during their daily briefing. He did say the &quot;no value&quot; comment on draftees, but remember that was the day before a bill was introduced by a NY Congressman to force everybody to serve its nation; no exceptions like marriage or college. His comments were responses to questions about the possibility of a draft.<BR><BR>We've had it pretty easy for a long time, everybody. <BR>

Ahh..but George..he did say it didn't he?<BR><BR>I doubt that the real George Patton would ever had said anyting like that.<BR><BR>I am not going to comment on whether we should or should not go to war.<BR><BR>However, there is no reason for any governemnt official to make such remarks(think them,but don't say them).<BR><BR> <BR><BR><BR><BR>

Please, let's honor JMJ's request to stay away from contention on this.<BR><BR>I was a child when people went off to World War II, but I remember what train stations and bus stations looked like, with all those uniforms. I rode a train from Albany to Boston with some men and just stared at them, thinking they were so important and impressive.<BR><BR>Things are beginning to look the same now, but with a big difference. Back then, they all looked like such grown-up men to me in their uniforms. Now, like JMJ, I see them as still children. There may have been reservists or WW I vets who were traveling back to duty back then, but I don't remember seeing them.

JMJ,<BR><BR>Thank you for that thoughtful post. I am of the same age group and remember the protests of another era, and hope that the voices will be heard.<BR><BR>I think we need to get women more involved with decision making, we are much less likely to send our children, husbands, brothers, and even fathers and mothers to war. Wouldn't it be a better world if we could solve the problems without war. What are we teaching our children that the only way to solve problems is to go to war? <BR><BR>Let's send the senior diplomats and generals from both sides and let them fight it out and leave our children out of the mess.<BR><BR>Just a thought.........

So they delete the troll like it's 199 post but leave this sob sister political drivel up on a TRAVEL site?<BR><BR>George W. Bush is a puppet of the oil industry and has his head so far up his ass he might as well open wide and give himself a colonic while he's there.

You know for the life of me I don't get it!! They can't find any weapons yet why does he insist they are there?? It doesn't seem he is getting support from the U.N. Even in his own circle people are against it. I think it is only about OIL and nothing else. I think Bush has a problem.

I am getting older now but I remember... I remember trying to show I wasn't afraid, I remember feeling like I wasn't coming back, I remember being scared of the unknown, I remember my family crying... I remember the long flight, I remember thinking I was gonna be a hero, I remember thinking it wasn't gonna be worth it, I remember thinking it was gonna be worth it... I remember being there but I don't know where, I remember the heavy rains, I remember everthing was hot, I remember the pounding shells shaking my bed, I remember being more afraid than I have ever been, I remember thinking I am only 19 lord-please don't let me die, I'm remember trying to sleep and someone wanted to kill me, I remember nothing prepared me for this... I remember gunfire barely missing my body, I remember the poor, nasty children in the mud, I remember not to pick them up they may blow up, I remember bodies tearing up, I remember smells I can't explain, I remember faces I'll never see... I remember feeling guilty about going back home,I remember being treated bad, I remember having nightmares every night, I remember getting hooked on Valium, I remember exchanging it for alcohol, I remember aa meetings, I remember failing at jobs... I remember too many things, I remember too little things, I remember I was once young, happy and worry free... War changed that in 13 months for me forever... Remember that protests don't really do any good, remember the ones who are really scared about war... The ones who are fighting it.