Letters home haunt W

New York Daily News ^ | 11/29/03 | THOMAS M. DeFRANK and ALISON GENDAR

[January24th]

Further investigation:

From an article on Nov. 4:

Mr. Bartlett, White House communications director said,

"The president writes a letter to every family of a fallen soldier and meets privately with families of soldiers at military bases," Mr. Bartlett said. "He grieves with them, he understands.


From the International Herald Tribune, Nov. 26:

President George W. Bush offered personal condolences to the families of 26 soldiers killed in Iraq, meeting privately with 98 parents, spouses, children and other relatives of the dead at a time when his handling of war casualties has become a political issue.

How to deal with the casualties of war is a quandary for any president, and particularly so for Bush, whose handling of Iraq has become a central issue in the presidential campaign. A further challenge, White House aides have said, is how to express sympathy for those killed without showing favoritism for one family over another or drawing attention to the mounting number of deaths.

Asked on Monday why Bush met only in private with families of the victims, Claire Buchan, a spokeswoman for the White House, said it was a time of "great grief" for the families.

"They have made a great sacrifice on behalf of America, and the president believes this is an appropriate way to meet with them, to meet privately with them, to express his appreciation both as commander in chief and on behalf of the American people," Buchan said.

Bush met with family members for about an hour and 40 minutes, splitting his time among groups in four rooms. He listened to family members tell stories about their loved ones and signed various items. "It was very emotional," said one White House aide.

Also, go here: http://www.msnbc.com/news/969996.asp?cp1=1 for an amazing (and unknown to me) article about the immense volume of personal, hand-written letters generated by Reagan. He did the work of his Correspondence Unit for them, it seems.

Sure, they all have Autopen and a Correspondence team, it doesn't mean they don't have personal involvement. You just can't assume things. I'll keep digging for you, since Google is a concept unknown to most of the media and many folks here at FR.

[William McKinley]

It is too big a job for one man?

This isn't Vietnam. The losses are tragic, but thankfully very small in number.

[blackie]

Letters home haunt W ~ Bump!

[Radix]

As a father of a Troop who was very nearly killed during a skirmish in Iraq last Spring, I feel that I can say that I have tasted just a bit of what those poor families must feel. I was very fortunate in that my son has returned home safely. It is aso so that he may very well be deployed again over there in the not too distant future.

Despite my anguish last Spring, (which certainly cannot compare to those parents who's soldiers never made it out safe) I still fully supported, and continue to support this military action over there.

I believe that it is a matter of survival for all of us, and my son has a similar opinion. I am sorry that people of every station in life cannot appreciate just what the value of morale is for our Troops, even those who are not actually deployed.

The Presidents trip to Iraq was a very very good thing!

[Stultis]

Maybe they can't help feeling that way

I suspect the majority, at least among the most outspoken, hated America and/or were extremist leftists before they lost their children.

[Stultis]

Burying your child is not the natural plan of things.

Well, I agree with your larger point, but actually it has been the natural order of things, for most of human history, in many places still, and even in the most prosperous and developed countries up until the development of vaccines and antibiotics little more than a few generations ago, for parents to bury a very significant percentage of their children.

Find a 19th Century graveyard sometime and check out the born-died dates on the tombstones.

[VOA]

...but actually it has been the natural order of things, for most of human
history, in many places still.....for parents to bury a very significant percentage
of their children....

Thanks for waking me up! You are indeed correct.
Like many spoiled Americans, I fell into a thought pattern that didn't exist
a couple of generations ago.
I remember a junior high teacher who said that his grandparents (in the early days of
Oklahoma) buried something like 6 of their 10 children.

Find a 19th Century graveyard sometime and check out the born-died dates
on the tombstones.

You're "dead-on" (really). During professional visits, I've taken in a bit of the
downtown cemetary in Charlotte, NC and also the graveyard that's just off
The Freedom Trail in Boston.

Aside from some of the pithy and intriguing inscriptions, most adults (and
maybe all kids) should take such a stroll.

[gatorbait]

hate to hear the parents of slain soldiers sounding so bitter and unpatriotic, as if their sons died for nothing. I wonder if their sons would have approved of such sentiments? I think it's unlikely. It dishonors the dead. Maybe they can't help feeling that way, since the loss of a child is so horrendous, but it seems so wrong.

The sentiments expressed by the two losers in the story are not anything new.There are quite a few instances of bitter families as far back as WW1 . Think of Thornton Wilder's "Our Towm". The big difference here is the Left's emphasis upon this,. By the way, anyone recall these sentiments being trumpeted after Task Force Ranger or USS Cole?

Dave

[TEXOKIE]

"This sounds like an item for which Dubya could use some prayer-assistance..."

Thanks so much for the ping and the call to prayer. I agree with you, VOA. We have had him at the top of our Troop Prayer List since the beginning. The man does have many stresses and challenges before him and deserves our prayers.

Beloved Heavenly Father,

We place before you our President, George W. Bush. We are recognizing the particular challenge before him concerning the letters to families of fallen troops he has to write. Father, surround and support him while he is executing this very painful duty of Commander In Chief. If it is possible and according to your Law, let us also bear with him a portion of that burden. Each of these who have given their lives are our brothers and sisters in a very real sense. They have given their very lives for us so that we can live our lives breathing the air of sweet Freedom. We ask for the grieving families to be comforted and healed. Assure them in their very hearts that this nation IS grateful for them and that those letters from the President are not only personal letters from him, but also sent on behalf of all of us.

Father, we are so very grateful for the service of all our fine troops and their allies. Bring them all home in the fullness of time, after the Job is done, safe and victorious.

Amen


For those who may wish to participate with other FReepers in supporting our troops spiritually, please feel welcome to come here:

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/994696/posts

Every prayer counts, and lurkers are welcome!

[VOA]

Amen.

And a somber sidebar is an alphabetical list of the fallen. A short article on each
is available by clicking their name.
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/honor2.html

[TEXOKIE]

"I don't fault the parents, who are dealing with grief. I DO fault the organizations who prey upon that grief and manipulate the parents into political positions while they are in despair."

Well-said... bump.

[TEXOKIE]

Bumping your 38.

[Outraged]

It always raises my whiskers when I see someone who freshly joined us FreeRepublic locals, especially those newbies who take the cynical valuation of President Bush.

What is unmistakable about Bush is his humility, selflessness and love of country. I doubt HIGHLY that Bush uses a computer generated and signed form letter to comfort the families of slain soldiers...To suggest this raises the specter of doubt about the integrity of GW, which in this case I think is merely conjecture and bordering on pessimistic.

The bottom line (despite his socialist tendencies) is that Bush is the right man at the right time, walks the talk and is TRULY a man of God who TRULY grieves at the bleak task of sacrificing American lives for the right of left wing POS to dance in the street in tye-dye.

[Outraged]

Praise the Lord Radix, thank you for raising a real man and I thank you for your patriotism and your son's near sacrifice...People like you and your family are a blessing on our great Country.

[TruthNtegrity]

I don't know about you, but I've seen letters from the President, and they are not typed, they are not form letters; they are handwritten and personally signed by him!

There is a letter hanging on the wall of my Church from the President who responded to the children of the Church who wrote him after 9/11, expressing sympathy for all the condolences and visits that the President had given/written. The letter is hand-written in the President's hand, and hand signed by him!

I've heard folks who have received letters from the First Lady also comment that the letters are handwritten and handsigned.

The First Couple are clearly people who take the time to handwrite letters when they think it is appropriate to do so. I'm sure there are form letters that go out - but in the case of the loss of a son or daughter or husband or Father or member of a family, those letters are not "form" letters, signed by a "signature machine". At least, NOT by this President!

[TruthNtegrity]

I forgot to ping you to my #55.

Also you will have FReepmail shortly.

[baseballmom]

The Troop Prayer Thread, and the Pray For President Bush thread, are great. I visit often, but don't usually post, as is the case with so many threads.

Thanks for keeping these threads going, they are in the very best spirit of FR.

[VOA]

There is a letter hanging on the wall of my Church from the President.....hand-written in
the President's hand, and hand signed by him!

Maybe I'm "late to the dance", but this talk of letter writing clicked a neuron about
a book by Papa Bush. I haven't read it, but as best I know it is a book of hundreds of
letters and diary entries that Papa Bush kept from the time he left high school to
volunteer for the Navy (against his own father's wishes).

If, as it seems to me, Dubya is writing each of these bereavement letters himself,
he's following in the footsteps of his father.

All The Best, George Bush: My Life and Other Writings
by George Bush (Author)

[Miss Marple]

This person was on another thread casting doubt on the integrity of the President. I suggested to the moderators that he be checked to see if he is a retread, which apparently he was, since his account has been banned.

I am not putting up with liberal claptrap and deception. We are at war, and the type of people such as this one who start down this "Bush used an auto-pen" malarky and other claptrap are leftists trying to insert their propoganda wherever they think they can succeed. They aren't interested in discussion, nor are they simply having a difference of opinion.

They are simply trying to poison the President's reputation. I have a low tolerance for this garbage.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Well done, Miss Marple..and thank you.