I've written my latest ltte with the help of Noamnety-the recent GI death column

[w8liftinglady]

I was so incredibly touched...placing a name and personhood to the unknown troops.I hope it is effective.Please review it before I send it.

As the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan enter their tenth year,we-as a nation-have gone on.There is a whole new generation who will not know the sacrifice and tragedy our troops have endured while the "Leaders" still try to come up with a good reason to remain there(outside of the profit they stand to make by remaining.)As a small tribute to the nameless soldiers and Marines on the ground,here is the background of a few.
Air Force tech Sgt. Adam Ginnett died Jan. 19,2010 near Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.Sgt. Ginnett had served three tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan.He told his mom "I don't go out there on the battlefield with a gun and shoot anybody. I find these bombs that are going to take someone else's life. I'm saving people's lives, not taking them."
Sgt. Daniel Angus, 28, of Thonotosassa, Fla., was killed in combat while deployed on his third tour
of duty in the Middle East in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Sgt. Angus loved spending time with his family, hunting, fishing and mudding. He is survived by his loving family, wife Bonnie; daughter, Kaitlyn Marie.
Sgt. Lucas Beachnaw with the 173rd Airborne Infantry, had been killed Jan 13, 2010 in Afghanistan in small arms fire.Sgt. Beachnaw was married right before he left for his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.The last chat he had with his dad,the day before he was killed,involved the daily rigors of Army training school, deer hunting and sending him a care package of venison summer sausage and jerky.
These guys were from different places with different interests,but they all had a dedication to their nation,their families and their military buddies.We have lost 212 troops in Afghanistan so far this year.How many more need to die before our leaders decide we have been there long enough?Write your Congressmembers and encourage true action in ending these senseless wars.

[noamnety]

1. This is such a touchy subject to approach.

I made a decision a few years ago not to include specific names and faces of the troops with an explicit political message unless I knew for sure enough about their personal politics to know they would be okay with their names being used in that way. Among the troops, some support the war, some oppose it. I don't know if there is a way to rewrite this slightly and have people come to their own conclusions, and still feel the loss in a personal way. I would approach it from the perspective of what their parents or widows might feel reading your LTTE if they support the war or if they need to hang onto the belief that they died for something worthwhile. And what would you feel if you read the name of someone you lost in a LTTE, being used in a way that made the case that we need to stay in Afghanistan?

I don't know, this is an area I've struggled with a lot and sometimes I admittedly stray across that line. I don't know where the tipping point is between respecting the dead, even when we disagree with them - and the unavoidable truth that this is what war creates - and destroys.

Every time I hear people talking about Obama "playing chess" - I am quietly thinking yes, and that's a game you can't play without pawns. And that's the dilemma in a nutshell - how to best prevent people from being used as pawns.

(Anyway, I have kicked and recommended the thread.)

edit to add link to other thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8665186

[w8liftinglady]

2. I agree-and use names with caution

These soldiers were publicly displayed in multiple writings.I rarely,if ever,use specific soldiers for the very same reason.Some times,however,people have to be reminded of who is fighting(and dying or being wounded)...something the war-hawks in my area seem to have forgotten.

[noamnety]

3. kick for the evening crowd. (nt)

[w8liftinglady]

4. thanks,friend!