Dirty Little Secret

I support the troops. I have the utmost respect for all veterans and I am deeply grateful to each and every one of them. But.

Imagine that your son, friend or husband was career army. After seeing action all over the world, he gets sent to Iraq. After his first experience with an IED, he earns a Purple Heart and several broken ribs. The second IED to hit his tank (that’s not the right word, but bear with me) knocks him unconscious. He earns another Purple Heart and a trip back to the States for treatment. They want to make sure there’s no brain damage.

But you can tell that there is. His personality is different. He can’t write an intelligible e-mail. He has trouble remembering common words. He has always been against the war in Iraq, has always said that we were doing more harm than good. But now he doesn’t seem to think about it. Even though the army will be sending him back to his old post in July. He explains that he just doesn’t feel like himself.

How does that make you feel? Does it make you feel safe, knowing that the brain damaged are looking out for you?

The above is a story of a real person. A person that has played with my children. A person who, though he struggles to type a simple sentence, will soon be in charge of a very large and very expensive piece of war equipment.

I support the troops enough to want them to come home. Especially the ones who should be home because of their injuries or because they are reservists, and would be home, but for the fiasco that is Iraq.

http://johnedwards.com/action/sign-petitions/standfirm-ad?gclid=CKev8da4qYwCFRREUQodEnRlMw