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This is an email I received tonight from the wife of a soldier who was wounded in Iraq. I have removed anything that could remotely identify her or her husband. Read it.
Read it, and then tell me how much you trust the polls.
Please ignore the stuff she says about me. That is a million billion miles from the point. Read what she went through, what her husband went through. There are over 18,000 families who have dealt with this to one degree or another, and 700+ more families who will never see their beloveds again.
Read it, and then tell me how much you trust the polls.
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Dear Mr. William Rivers Pitt,
It has been over a year since my husband was sent to Iraq. It was a year ago that I read your two books, 'War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know' and 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence'. It has also been over a year since I have wanted to write to you and let you know what an inspiration you are to me. I would start writing a rough draft or I would start to type you a letter and I just didn't send it. I think it was because I wanted it to be perfect. I'm not even quite sure what I mean by that. I'm hoping that this letter will be the one that I send to you.
When President Bush started making claims that Iraq was hiding Weapons
of Mass Destruction and he was trying to get the support of Congress to invade Iraq, I started making more time to read. I wanted to know more. I would read the newspaper everyday. I became a "CNN junkie". But most of all, I was an avid reader of your editorials and others on Truth Out.
I give a lot of credit to my mom for that. She would forward me your
articles before I started going to Truth Out. My mom ordered your two
books and I read them in awe. They were comforting and disturbing and
the same time.
Let me explain.
My husband, Sgt. ******* ***********, joined the U.S. Army six months before our wedding. We are both from ******** and we met in ******** at ********* State University. We were both having troubles with our classes and dreaded school. He decided to go to an Army recruiter. And it has been an eventful life ever since.
The middle of January 2002, my husband, was at work for the ********* ********* ******** as an intern at Ft. *******. He had been released from the ******* unit, ********* Battalion, ten months earlier to peruse his badge as a ***********. He found something that he enjoyed doing and that he was good at. During these ten months, he was waiting to get an actual ************** finalized and a school date for ******** to become an agent. Those ten months as an intern had to be put on hold.
In January of 2002, he got a call from the ********* Battalion saying that they had word that they were headed to Iraq and that he needed to report to them that next day. My heart dropped. Because he still hadn't had that **********, he had to go back to his original unit in time of war. From that point on, was when I decided to get more
informed about what goes on in our country.
On April 12th, 2002, my husband along with the ************** Group headed to Iraq. On that day, our son ********, who was born on our
anniversary, was 20 months old. It was a sad, agonizing day, yet a day of relief. The days leading up to this day were long, stressful and full of ups and downs. The date for when they were to leave kept changing. He could now get started on his year in Iraq and I could start counting down the days. But, I became a very angry American
from that day on.
A month into ********'s time in Iraq I started reading your books. They were a comfort to me. You inspired me to be more informed, to get
involved and to speak out. I still go to Truth Out daily and always look forward to your articles. I started going to Military Families Speak Out and Common Dreams.
On ****** ***th, 2002 I got a phone call from the ************'s Family Group Readiness Leader. She told me that because my husband was waiting for a school date that he was on a plane to the states along with a few other soldiers from the *****************, some of which were on stop loss and we now able to get out of the Army. I was visiting family in ********. I quickly packed our car and ******* and I headed back to Washington. I had about six phone conversations with this lady, and all assured me that my husband was headed home. On
our final conversation she gave me the flight information. My husband
was to fly into ******* Airport at around 12:15 am on Saturday the ***th.
I had bought my husband his favorite foods. I cleaned our apartment, I
bought him soap, a toothbrush and new warm clothes, knowing that he
would want to take a long shower and that he would be adjusting to the
weather. Our families were making arrangements to come visit. Many
people in our hometowns were told the wonderful news.
When ********* and I walked into the airport, I saw family members and
other soldiers from the ********** Brigade awaiting their loved ones
that were on the same flight. I had flowers, a U.S. flag and a camera.
Soldiers started coming of the plane and I watched loved ones hugged and cried with joy. But soon, there was no one else coming off the plane. A commander from the ********** came to me and asked me if my husband was with the ************** Unit. He told me that they had all headed down to baggage claim. I thought, "How could I have missed him? Maybe he got down to baggage a different way."
When I got to the baggage area I saw a soldier from *****'s Company that I recognized. He had his arm around his wife. When he saw me, he had a confused look on his face. I asked him where Sgt. ****** ******** was. Another soldier yelled out, "Hey ********, your wife is here." The person that came out of the crowd was not my husband. I dropped the flowers and almost dropped my son. I just said, "Oh my god! Oh my god!"
Another soldier asked me who I was there for. I told him Sgt. ******* ******* from ****** Company. He said, "This is Sgt. ***** ******** from ******* Company". He asked who told me and then said, "Someone made a mistake." I took off quickly toward the escalators. I was hysterical. I ran into a lady and her two sons on the way to pay for parking. I felt I couldn't get in enough air. It was so hard to breath. It wasn't until I called *****'s family from the cell phone in the car and it wasn't until *****'s dad said that I had to try to calm down before driving that I realized what my son was saying. "Mama, what happened? Mama, I'm scared!" I knew then that I had to relax for my son's sake. It took everything in me not to drive right on to base and raise a ruckus on the way back home.
That next day I went to the *************** building. I was getting little answers and I got only one apology. That apology came from a
Master Sergeant that had nothing to do with what happened. The stay back Group commander, the stay back Battalion Commander and the stay back Battalion Sergeant all avoided me and avoided my phone calls. Not one of them called me to apologize. I then notified Sen. ****** office, Sen. ****** office and Rep. ***** office. They were all trying to work with their sources at the pentagon to find out where ***** was and to get ***** to a phone. I just wanted him home. On Thursday the ***st, my mom contacted the local paper here in ******. I was ready to go public.
On the morning of Friday, ****** **nd, I received a call from ******'s
father, ****. He had gotten a call from *****. (The nurse had to dial
for *****.) ***** was injured badly. It would be a couple of days
before they could get him to the states partly because of his injuries. All I knew at the time was that he had burns to his hands, legs and face. The Army notified me a couple of hours later. By that time I had headed back to ******* where my son would be staying with *****'s parents when I flew out to see him wherever they decided to take him. But, before I left the house, I got a call from a Lt. ***** who was the stay back commander for the ***************.
She asked if I was ***** ********. I said it was. She then said, "I am calling to tell you to be quiet about the situation." I told her I didn't know what she meant. She then said, "You know what I'm talking about." I said, "No. I don't know what you mean. And if you don't tell me what you are talking about I'm going to hang up." She said, "The situation about your husband." I asked, "What situation?" She said, "About your husband being injured." I asked her if she meant I couldn't tell family members and she said that I could, that I just couldn't tell other wives. I then got very angry. I told her that I was very angry that she didn't call to apologize about the mistake. I told her that being at that airport and not seeing ***** get off that plane was one of the hardest things that I've ever gone through.
I told her that the unit needed to work on their communication. I told her that I didn't appreciate her call, not only because I had left her three messages about the mistake, not only because she hadn't yet apologized for it, but because I knew the only reason she was calling me, was to make sure that families wouldn't hear of their soldiers injuries by word of mouth. I told her that I believe the only reason she was calling was to save her own hide and that it was very disrespectful.
We got to ******* and I started making preparations to go to ****** ***** Medical Center in *******************. That is where my husband was headed. A few days later the Army flew me out of ********* to be with him. When I got to the hospital I saw a man that was in so much physical and mental pain. His hands and legs were wrapped. He looked like he hadn't eaten at all while he was there. His hair and ears were scorched, but his face wasn't burned too badly. We hugged and cried. I was afraid that I was going to hurt him if I hugged too hard. The scrubbings of his burns twice a day were unbearable for him. He would scream. The next two weeks, were long. We talked, but he didn't really say much about what went on while he was in Iraq. He did tell me about the accident.
He and five other soldiers were headed to take over a guard shift at and ammunition site north of ******. They were hit by a I.U.D. Three men were thrown out of the back of the truck. One was tossed around inside with heavy gear falling on him. The driver and my husband, who were in front, got tossed in the air and landed back down in their seats. ******* thought he was dead. He then yelled, "Get out!" The bomb had gone off in front of ***** and the truck was on fire. ******* and the driver had to climb out of the windows because the doors would not open. When ****** got out he noticed his pant legs were and fire and began rolling on the ground to get the fire out. ***** and the others could have easily lost their lives.
******** is well now. He is currently at ********* in ********. He will be gone from us again until August of this year. He still wears
pressure gloves on his hands for the burns and will hopefully be able to take them off this August.
During *********'s 30 days of leave after he got released from ************** Medical Center, it took a while for things to get better for him mentally. On the flight back he was nervous that ******** wouldn't remember who he was. He didn't want a huge group to welcome him home. His parents, his sister and **** were the only ones there. It took a couple minutes, but ********* warmed up to him and knew exactly who his dada was.
Once an avid reader, ****** didn't pick up a book for weeks. He was very depressed. It was hard for him to play with ******** because of his injuries and that upset him. He hated to have to have someone open a car door or a soda can for him. He didn't want to do anything. He didn't want to see anyone. He wondered how the others that were injured were doing. On of the hardest things for me was to hear him say, "*****, I love you and ****** to death. But, if they would let me, I would go back." I just wanted to be a good listener. It was hard to understand his reasoning's, but I also know that my husband hates not finishing a job. He said it felt like he got pulled out of a job too quickly.
I believe that is wasn't his or any other's soldiers' job to be there in the first place. He left his fellow soldiers who were like family to him. Later on during those 30 days of leave, he got a call from his platoon sergeant from Iraq. He cried his eyes out. He loved hearing this sergeant voice. After that phone call, was when ***** started feeling better.
All of these events and more have impacted my life greatly. On top of
that, the war makes it even harder. My husband is finally in ********
school, but will have to re-enlist for a minimum of three years after
finishing. I know that being a ****** agent will help him get experience so that he can get a job in a similar area as a civilian. He would love to work for the F.B.I for instance. It makes me nervous that the next three years of our lives with the Army he may be sent back to Iraq. I know that that chance is there. I know that there isn't any way to completely prepare for it. I know of many soldiers that were in his platoon with him in Iraq that have chosen to get out of the Army.
I am a stronger person now though. I am stronger because of not only of the events in our lives, but because of you. You have opened my eyes. You have made me care about our country. I thank you for all your hard work. I often wonder if you ever sleep. Because of you, I am an even more patriotic American. You are also a hero. You are a hero to me. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
********** **************
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