Will America turn its back on my sons?

[Gypsy]

Great piece written by a Military Mom.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/409/story/64428.html

IN MY OPINION
Will America turn its back on my sons?
Don't put troops in danger for 17 months if only objective is to leave
CATHY FLOYD

Our son is in Iraq.

He is in the infantry. This is his second tour. His commitment was supposed to be over this spring. He is not getting out or coming home then. He is staying until his unit's deployment is over and their mission completed -- whenever that is.

His younger brother is in Army ROTC and expects to be commissioned into the infantry later this year.

The Army did not pay either son's tuition. We did. They don't "owe" this to the government.

Nobody wants this war over more than we do.

My sons accepted danger

The older one started his journey toward this three-year tour in the Army before Sept. 11, 2001, but he did not sign the dotted line and commit himself until the summer of 2002. It was clear at the time that this nation would be at war with Islamofascist extremists somewhere in the world by the time he graduated from college and entered active duty.

The younger one started his ROTC program that same year and signed his commitment in 2004, long after it had become clear that the war against terror was not a walk in the park and would not be over in a couple of months, as Desert Storm had been. He was already simultaneously enlisted in the South Carolina National Guard when he committed to extending his tour by six years after officer training.Unlike our politicians, Brian and Paul are unable to change their minds according to the latest poll.

The older one has seen war, with its death, destruction and evil, up close and personal. His roommate was killed by an IED last time. He has lost several friends and seen several others in his "band of brothers" sustain life-changing injuries.

He doesn't like it much.

But he wouldn't leave his men if Congressman Robin Hayes himself sent a helicopter over there with special orders to bring Lt. Floyd home to his mother right this minute.

His is a level of commitment and character that few politicians are able to fathom.

The younger one has seen that war is not much fun for the families at home.

He doesn't get to change his mind, either.

He doesn't want to.

Gutless fat cats in Congress

Meanwhile, those who have sent them to war have turned on them. That includes our politicians and many of the American public who are more wrapped up in and knowledgeable about the Anna Nicole saga than they are about the history of this great nation and the threats we now face.

Two hundred and eighteen gutless fat cats in Congress have passed a bill telling the world that we are quitting in less than 18 months.

Now, let me get this straight: We're going to put our men and women in danger every minute for 17 months but we have no objective other than to leave?

Why not leave now if we are just throwing in the towel?

Who knows how many self-serving demagogues in the Senate will jump on this bandwagon? It all depends on the media and the polls, I think.

And, oh yes, one more thing was driving the House vote:

Money.

Pork.

I call it Blood Money -- and I come from a long line of peanut farmers.

They sweetened their little bill with ridiculous pork projects, paid for by us, and designed to bribe a few congressmen who were on the fence, trying to decide if they should go with what they know is right for the country and for our servicemen or if they should play politics in order toimprove their chances of holding on to their dream jobs.

A little money thrown in to the decision-making process usually helps to clear up all the confusion.

They sicken me.

I'm tired of them playing their games.

Memo to Congress

Here's my memo to Congress.

Dear senators and representatives:

If this nonsense continues, I want my son on the first chopper out of there. My boys will lay down their lives for all of you. You have no right to turn on them. AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO RISK THEIR LIVES FOR NOTHING.

If you think I'm mad, you don't even want to think about the hurt and anger of the majority of those thousands of servicemen and women who have sacrificed their physical and mental health or of the families who have lost loved ones for a cause that we are now told is not important.

-- Cathy C. Floyd

IN MY OPINION Cathy

Floyd

[Hipshot]

Gypsy:

Thanks for posting this item. I wish she could have her voice heard by all those 'dim'ocrats who want to cut and run. Shades of 1975 all over again!

[Gypsy]

Agreed, Hipshot. Those that most need to read this probably never will...

[shadowwalker]

Historically speaking American appreciates the Military initially when there is a war. If the war drags on to long civiians are faced with the reality of war. The soldiers who do not come back alive and the soldiers who return not whole. A trend throughout history has been to be pro military as long as they are needed but once the war is over or unpopular soldiers represent what civilian want to forget. It is not the soldiers fault that they chose to put their lives on the line. It is the government fault for making decisions that are usually based on economic decisions, but throughout history as far back as the Roman Empire soldiers were only appreciated during war time after that the rest of the world would prefer to forget they exist. I believe that warriors (that is not to say that every soldier is a warrior) are here in the world to do what others will not. Civilian can get regular showers and sleep in comfortable beds and have opinions that are usually uninformed or based on the media slant. Warrior know who we are, what we are here for, and are not sheep. Sorry about the soap box I saw it with my father and myself in various wars. The sad answer to the mothers question is that yes American will turn its back on her sons. Historically this has never changed. Thank you for your patience and indulgence in my triad.

Live to Ride
Ride to live

[Goggles Pizano]

Originally Posted by Hipshot

Gypsy:

Thanks for posting this item. I wish she could have her voice heard by all those 'dim'ocrats who want to cut and run. Shades of 1975 all over again!

Agreed. Liberals have been trying to turn this war into Vietnam II since the first shot fired. Anti war protests, college campus uproar, quagmire references ad nauseum, banning recruiters, burning soldiers in effigy, MSM's endless nightly march of only bad news to be reported from Iraq, daily reminder of the personal cost (KIA/WIA), etc...

[Jgood]

Thanks for posting, wish it was a front page item on ALL newspapers.

[tk27]

Originally Posted by Goggles Pizano

Agreed. Liberals have been trying to turn this war into Vietnam II since the first shot fired. Anti war protests, college campus uproar, quagmire references ad nauseum, banning recruiters, burning soldiers in effigy, MSM's endless nightly march of only bad news to be reported from Iraq, daily reminder of the personal cost (KIA/WIA), etc...

Respectfully disagree.

The anti-war protests have been minuscule, marginal compared to the Vietnam era. There was a protest here in Boston last weekend, it had been hyped for months, signs everywhere, I walked by it: it was pathetic. College campuses are hardly in an uproar, if anything I find the general apathy on them disturbing. Quagmire references usually hinge on the political solutions in Iraq, or the inability to secure one, which is the only thing that will bring “victory”. And in that arena the dreaded Q word is debatable.

Does the “MSM” only report bad news? I don’t know, probably, would it be nice if they showed the good things our troops do like they do on Blackfive? Yes it would, thing is that no amount schools built, and aide dolled out even adds up to the significance of something like the al-Askari Mosque being blown up.

I was in a Chinese restaurant last month in Brookline, Massachusetts last month, that’s freaking Sandinista country there, anyway, about 3-4 guys walk in, in Army uniform, they got a standing ovation from the restaurant. Our country isn’t like it is in the Vietnam era, and “the left” is not trying to make it so. Sure there are some sh**heads in Seattle who burn effigies of troops, one case that made Drudge, and there will always be exceptions. Yes there are jagoff professors, and there always will be, it’s better to isolate these jerks in places like Cambridge, Ann Arbor, and Boulder then to leave them among normal people!

If anything it is elements on “the right” that ham up nostalgia for Vietnam. Exploiting cultural wounds for electoral success has long been the MO of both parties (The GOP and conservative movement is much better at it). Conservatism in this country has become a belligerent, ideologically bankrupt, populist movement largely because of such tactics. It was a deciding factor in 2004 that is certain.

I chalk a lot of this up to psychopathologies of the Baby-Boomer generation. I like Obama in ’08 not so much for anything he stands for, but for the fact that he is not a baby-boomer. After Clinton and W our nation will not survive another Boomer president. I happen to be the spawn of boomers, and boomers individually are decent folk but they are damaged goods generationaly. We do not have a problem with “the left” or “the right” (really the same) we have a problem with boomers. They’re the ones who just can’t get over Vietnam.

Respectfully.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Goggles Pizano

Agreed. Liberals have been trying to turn this war into Vietnam II since the first shot fired. Anti war protests, college campus uproar, quagmire references ad nauseum, banning recruiters, burning soldiers in effigy, MSM's endless nightly march of only bad news to be reported from Iraq, daily reminder of the personal cost (KIA/WIA), etc...

You would sure think that from the media reports, wouldn't you?

If Cindy Freakin' Sheehan farts, that is a lead headline for the MSM. Why? What are HER creds to debate the war? She strikes me as being less intelligent than the average American. She has a vote, just like everyone else. That is all.

And the majority of college professors seem to Vietnam War-era protestors as well, certain that we are losing the war, betraying all that is good in America, believing the worst rumors about the military, certain that the Administration is destroying the Constitution, and that a President can be impeached for pursuing policies that become unpopular.

TR

[Dub]

Originally Posted by tk27

Our country isn’t like it is in the Vietnam era, and “the left” is not trying to make it so.

Um... Do you really think the left would be nothing, but elated if their was more a la Vietnam uproar going on? The MSM certaintly feeds the information to the public in ways to garner that type of support. The whole Sheehan saga was one example like T R said.

America's ignorant might not yet be as massed or vocal as in the Vietnam era, but IMO the Left definitely feeds them the liberal crap they swallow and feed upon for their twisted line of thought. That is definitely 'trying to make it so'.

Oh, and their might not be uproar on college campuses, but I hesitate to speak about my military ambitions when dealing with many of my classmates simply to avoid the liberal uninformed garbage responses I get. I get so dam infuriated when people who I normally respect, and I know are smart have somehow gotten such a f****** view of the world, and their own country and bash the Army and current fight against Islamofascism. And somehow their ability to show logic and reason goes out the window when talking about the subject. Arghh.

-Dub


edited for spelling

[SRT31B]

Originally Posted by tk27

I like Obama in ’08 not so much for anything he stands for, but for the fact that he is not a baby-boomer. After Clinton and W our nation will not survive another Boomer president.

Is that really the basis of your vote for the next President of the United States???

I seriously hope that you take into consideration, serious consideration that is, the background, beliefs, and values of each candidate and make an informed/educated vote as opposed to casting a ballot for "the young guy." Especially when "that guy" will be the next CINC and leader of the free world...

[CoLawman]

If anything it is elements on “the right” that ham up nostalgia for Vietnam. Exploiting cultural wounds for electoral success has long been the MO of both parties (The GOP and conservative movement is much better at it). Conservatism in this country has become a belligerent, ideologically bankrupt, populist movement largely because of such tactics. It was a deciding factor in 2004 that is certain.

tk, I believe you have hit on something here. We need to get this to the RNC!

I chalk a lot of this up to psychopathologies of the Baby-Boomer generation. I like Obama in ’08 not so much for anything he stands for, but for the fact that he is not a baby-boomer. After Clinton and W our nation will not survive another Boomer president. I happen to be the spawn of boomers, and boomers individually are decent folk but they are damaged goods generationaly. We do not have a problem with “the left” or “the right” (really the same) we have a problem with boomers. They’re the ones who just can’t get over Vietnam.

Considering your age, current station in life, and lack of service to anything other than yourself, perhaps you are being a bit harsh on the baby boomers. Obviously you have developed opinions based on your experience, with a very very small segment of the baby boomer population, (you mention your parents) rather than any qualitative research.

While the "effete impudent snobs"(google it) of my peers dropped out and turned on they were the minority. I and the other baby boomers were the silent majority. Did I tell you I was born and raised in BOULDER County? (Yep, Mork and Mindy lived 20 minutes from me.)

Who do you speak for when you say "we" have a problem with boomers? Your "we" might again be a very very small group of individuals spawned by baby boomers. My son never expressed such disdain for his parent's generation. He never expressed dismay for the Republican Party. He graduated from the University.........he joined the Army. He currently is serving in Iraq for a President he voted for.

Our generation, particularly the Republicans, will not forget Viet Nam nor the friends and family that our generation lost over there. We will not forget those individuals that called our returning soldiers baby killers and spat upon them when they returned from Viet Nam. We will not foget those traitors that aided and abetted the Communists and undermined our efforts in Viet Nam. Perhaps baby boomers understand that we must remember history so that we are not doomed to repeat it. Are you beginning to see the need for baby boomers to shout it from every soapbox? Those same cowardly and traitorous individuals that you draw on to indict all of us are HISTORY.

"They are the ones who can't get over Viet Nam."

And you will obviously never understand why.

Respectfully.

[/QUOTE]

Respectfully? To whom, the Baby Boomers? The Viet Nam Vets?

[Ret10Echo]

It seems that much of President Reagan's prognostications are coming true.

…… But in debating the past, we must not deny ourselves the successes of the future.

Let it never be said of this generation of Americans that we became so obsessed with failure that we refused to take risks that could further the cause of peace and freedom in the world.

Much is at stake here, and the Nation and the world are watching to see if we go forward together in the national interest or if we let partisanship weaken us.

And let there be no mistake about American policy: We will not sit idly by if our interests or our friends in the Middle East are threatened, nor will we yield to terrorist blackmail.

Ronald Reagan

Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on the State of the Union January 27, 1987

[Goggles Pizano]

tk27,

Funny how when someone prepares to patronize you they usually begin with "respectfully", or "no offence".

I was the last year of the baby boom (64). My parents were law abiding, respectful, catholic, and patriotic. Interestingly enough my parents were conservative Democrats (if you can recogize that term. Alas I doubt you can). Damaged goods? Hardly.

My father was a police officer in Phladelphia during the 60's riots. I have heard enough stories about the protests to recognize that hate for authority, patriotism, this country, race that is spewed forth on the news today. Add to that my own experience with riots as a police officer over the last 17 years which confirms for me that a great deal of young people today are bereft of common sense and direction. How is this possible when all those protests of the 60's sought change in our society? Try this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...ml?reload=true

The majority of those who volunteer for service to this nation understand what it means to fight for principles and ideals. Freedom of oppressed people is a noble cause yes? Explain then why you believe so passionately in a man who disregards that fight?
-Who insincerely apologized for a remark about their lives "wasted" in the war attributing the remark as a "slip of the tongue": http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...3/120524.shtml
-Who has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16935220.htm

Your use of the standard liberal tag lines concerning conservatives (Conservatism in this country has become a belligerent, ideologically bankrupt, populist movement largely because of such tactics. It was a deciding factor in 2004 that is certain.) is laughable and belies your own liberal leanings.

Baby boomers are ruining this country? I disagree with you Lad. It is liberals that are rotting away at my country, and we the people are fed up with it Republican, Independant, and Democrat (what few left there are).

COLawman was right on with his response. If we forget history, or allow people to alter history to suit them (liberals, cough cough) we are doomed to repeat it.

[dennisw]

Respectfully disagree.

The anti-war protests have been minuscule, marginal compared to the Vietnam era. There was a protest here in Boston last weekend, it had been hyped for months, signs everywhere, I walked by it: it was pathetic. College campuses are hardly in an uproar, if anything I find the general apathy on them disturbing. Quagmire references usually hinge on the political solutions in Iraq, or the inability to secure one, which is the only thing that will bring “victory”. And in that arena the dreaded Q word is debatable.

Does the “MSM” only report bad news? I don’t know, probably, would it be nice if they showed the good things our troops do like they do on Blackfive? Yes it would, thing is that no amount schools built, and aide dolled out even adds up to the significance of something like the al-Askari Mosque being blown up.

I was in a Chinese restaurant last month in Brookline, Massachusetts last month, that’s freaking Sandinista country there, anyway, about 3-4 guys walk in, in Army uniform, they got a standing ovation from the restaurant. Our country isn’t like it is in the Vietnam era, and “the left” is not trying to make it so. Sure there are some sh**heads in Seattle who burn effigies of troops, one case that made Drudge, and there will always be exceptions. Yes there are jagoff professors, and there always will be, it’s better to isolate these jerks in places like Cambridge, Ann Arbor, and Boulder then to leave them among normal people!

If anything it is elements on “the right” that ham up nostalgia for Vietnam. Exploiting cultural wounds for electoral success has long been the MO of both parties (The GOP and conservative movement is much better at it). Conservatism in this country has become a belligerent, ideologically bankrupt, populist movement largely because of such tactics. It was a deciding factor in 2004 that is certain.

I chalk a lot of this up to psychopathologies of the Baby-Boomer generation. I like Obama in ’08 not so much for anything he stands for, but for the fact that he is not a baby-boomer. After Clinton and W our nation will not survive another Boomer president. I happen to be the spawn of boomers, and boomers individually are decent folk but they are damaged goods generationaly. We do not have a problem with “the left” or “the right” (really the same) we have a problem with boomers. They’re the ones who just can’t get over Vietnam.

Quagmire references usually hinge on the political solutions in Iraq, or the inability to secure one, which is the only thing that will bring “victory”.

I do not mean to gang up on youthful exuberance, but any analysis which leads to the conclusion of "liking Obama in ’08" has to be judged as suspect at best. There are several aspects related to this analysis which are intriguing, but a red flag always goes up in my “damaged boomer brain” when complex issues are dismissed with the issuance of a statement having more the feel of an edict than an opinion, e.g.

Conservatism in this country has become a belligerent, ideologically bankrupt, populist movement largely because of such tactics. It was a deciding factor in 2004 that is certain

The above statement may pass the muster in the classroom. It may even gain the approbation of a professor or classmate or two, but here, I believe it’s not going to cut the mustard, so to speak. Specifically, how is conservatism become ideologically bankrupt? How can you categorize support for the conservative movement as solely related to belligerent tactics? Finally, how did your opinion related to the same become “certain”? Where I was when you were made the gatekeeper of things certain and uncertain?

Maybe my psychopathologies are causing me to feel very anxious lately, but I believe such a statement without some sort of specifics or support has a certain “generation x” feel about it. You know, all form and no substance.

In discussing Vietnam and alluding to us boomers and our fixation on it, I believe you could not have been more wrong in your analysis. A cold or flu is something one gets over, a historical event or period is not. In studying and remembering an historical event one hopefully gains knowledge and insight. Those of us who were around during the Vietnam era remember the strategy used by the media elite to sap the will of the American people, and we’re not going to go quietly into the night and allow them to do it again.

This is why there is such a dramatic reaction to the agenda of the current media elite as they attempt to use similar tactics which were so damaging in prior times. They want to encapsulate our current situation in sound bytes as quagmire or civil war hoping they will find a home in the minds of Americans. They know that it is easier for the sheeple to deny the truth of our World situation and the threat of Islamic Fascism if they can cling to catch phrases from the past. No, we’re not going to get over Vietnam or conveniently forget the lessons learned and again allow the cowards on the left to rob our Nation of its honor.