|
About
our Soldiers
Sandra
Hartle
10/05/2002
I
married young, as most people did back in the 60's. My husband was in
the service and so was I. We were deeply in love or at least we
thought we were at the time. I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, and so was
he which made our time together a little better as when in the service
you could find yourselves separated by two oceans. Eventually we did,
he was shipped out to Vietnam. He served his first term there and came
home, angry and frustrated.
As American's we rarely have cause to look at the way other's live. We
live in our little houses or our big houses and enjoy our freedoms so
understanding what goes on in other countries is not only difficult
for us, it is also nearly impossible to explain in a way that people
will believe what you are saying.
When Vietnam became an issue Communism was a real threat, not only to
the developing world, or those we call third world countries, but also
to our country. Due to the way we were raised not many of us
questioned the need to defend against communism. I still think that it
is necessary to defend against this plague, and it is still a problem
despite the end of the cold war.
Many young men went to a country they did not even know existed, let
alone understand. When they got there they found people still using
methods out of the dark ages to fight their wars. They used bamboo to
make razor sharp weapons covered with feces to make sure a small cut
would become seriously infected if one of our men were to walk into
one of these bungi traps. They tortured the men they captured, never
mind it was in violation of the Geneva Convention.
At any rate, by the time I was 21, I was also a widow. First I was
notified that my husband was MIA (missing in action), and then later
they came to the door with the flag and the check, telling me he had
been KIA (killed in action). It was his second tour in Vietnam. He had
been home for 6 months just a few weeks earlier, but he could not
stand the idea that his friends where still there so he asked to go
back. We had one child, and when he left I was expecting a second. I
didn't know that at the time.
Later when the government decided to pull us out of this disastrous
war, our men were treated like they had the plague. Soldiers were
beaten, spit on, and cursed by those who demonstrated in the streets
at the time. Young people primarily that were afraid they would be
drafted and have their plans of attending college and getting on with
their lives interrupted by the 'having' to serve their country.
At the same time we had Civil Rights riots going on in the streets as
well. America was becoming a place that was not all that safe anymore,
and since the 60's nothing has changed. Riots and mob rule has become
a way of life. Why? Because it worked.
In the 90's we had another cause to go to war. I turned on my
television and lowe and behold there were the same 60's left over's hanging
out in the local parking lot, demonstrating against our involvement in
removing Saddam from Kuwait. This time it was my son serving in the
war. My anger was unbelievable. I had not paid that much attention to
the riots of the 60's, after all the kids rioting were my age, and
they just seemed to be a little bit weird was all. The hippy movement
to me was a way for those who didn't fit in to society to fit into a
fringe group. They appeared dirty, un-kept and openly admitted to
polluting their brains with drugs. They wrote weird music and
weirder poetry. Nothing to take seriously.
Sadly that is how others saw it also. Well these hippies of the 60's
where the very people the communist used for their gains. They
convinced them that they were being used by their government. They
created a situation in our country that had not previously existed
since the Second WW. They created discontent. And it grew and it
grew. Thirty years later they are still attempting to rule by riot. We
call it freedom of speech.
Okay, so we all have that right in our country, we can say anything we
want about any one we want right? No that is not right. We have libel
laws that prohibit some speech, for instance you cannot slander
someone. You cannot go out and tell lies about someone and get away
with it unless of course that someone is a public official. Yeah,
that's right if you are in the public eye people can slander you all
over the place and if you file suit to put a stop to it, they may even
win. I don't call that freedom at all. I say when one person wants to
impose their will on another, they are taking away that other person's
freedom in the process. I say when you stand up and curse your
country, in favor of the enemy you are a traitor.
Without mentioning any names, I witnessed a display like this this
week, and it brought back all the memories of the 60's when I found
that my husband's life was given for no good reason. The people he was
defending, protecting, and keeping communism from, were already
communist.
When our elected representatives did not declare war when we were in
Vietnam, when our actresses went to the enemy and said they were not
that bad, and when our elected officials stand on enemy soil and claim
our president is misleading the public to have a war as a distraction.
I call that treason.
When people who are supposed to be defending our country, who take an
oath to do so as our senator's and congress people do, and they find
themselves in the enemy camp I think they should resign. The words
spoken this week will do two things that cannot be taken back. They
will give comfort to our enemies, and they will tend to demoralize our
own soldiers who are fighting to protect overweight, pompous asses
that haven't got a clue what they are saying and how it is being
taken.
We need new representation in our country, we need people who
understand that the pay raise they slipped through this year did not
go un-noticed, and that 'We the People' still know it is us paying
your wages.
Sandra
Hartle
Email: sandrahartle@juntosociety.com
Post
Comments
sjhaos
10/05/2002
|
