Heartbreak In Ohio

You don't throw Marines away, damnit. I am trembling with rage as I write this. What happened yesterday has me rattled to the core. Fourteen Marines, dead. They were blown up in an amphibious landing craft with a top speed of 20 mph in the middle of the desert.

I have had it with clueless idiots sporting yellow ribbons who have no idea what they are asking of our military. I am outraged at the hubris and sanctimony. I want to drop every chicken-hawk right smack in the middle of it. I don't personally know the horrors of war, and my husband was one of the brainiacs who won the Cold War. But my Father knew war. And I heard him wake up screaming more than once. That impresses a little girl who idolizes her Daddy. His nightmares inspired my own. And now I'm having them again.

But now I'm an adult, and a medical professional with over a thousand bloody traumas on my resume. I know what happens to human flesh, I've seen the wounds, and this time the nightmares are graphic and vivid and hellish. Fourteen Marines. Fourteen Marines!!! Yeah, they sure greeted our troops with flowers and dancing in the streets, didn't they?

Too many parents and wives and husbands and sons and daughters are coming home in coffins, in the still of the night, and no one bears witness to their silent homecoming. Does anyone besides me, and the loved ones of those serving, even care? A yellow ribbon is enough, we won't burden you to do any more, in fact we'll cut taxes on the wealthy in war time.

I don't know what the answer is, but I know the price is too high. And I know that the way this war has been prosecuted from the outset has been an affront to every man and woman who has ever rolled out of their bunk at 0445 and fell in, to every mother and father who have lost a child, and to every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine who has lost a limb, or a buddy, or a relationship. I'm bitter that the biggest fans of this fiasco don't have anyone in harm's way. Jenna and Barbara haven't left for OCS yet, have they?

To all of those left behind in Ohio, my heart goes out to you. Words fail me. I am so sorry for your loss, and I wish it could be undone. I can not fathom the pain and anger you feel, and will carry with you forever. There is no balm to soothe your wounded soul. Your children are gone. That is the deepest loss imaginable, and I can't bear the thought, yet it is your reality. I am so very sorry. Please accept my condolences, for what they are worth.