The old sergeant was sitting at his desk and he was in a contemplative mood after the success of the Iraqi elections. His squad leaders were sitting around his office for their daily briefing and the sergeant started on one of his rare speeches. “There has been many times in my life when I was proud. Of something or someone but today I am proud for some very different reasons. I am proud of the Iraqi’s for standing up to the terrorists and their country and proving once and for all that freedom does not belong to just a few but it belongs to all of us through Divine right. I am proud of the Iraqi’s for holding their hands up so everyone could see the ink stain on their fingers. It reminded me of someone called Hancock many years ago who wrote his name in large letters on a document that could very well have lead to him being hanged.”
“But the thing that struck me the most was the men and women of the United States that have lost their lives. While I grieve for them I am at the same time proud that their sacrifice has not been in vain. They fought and died to give the Iraqi’s a chance for freedom and today the Iraqi’s took that chance. They have justified the sacrifice that was made for them.”
“And to see the look of freedom on the faces of a people that have seen slavery for decades brings our Armed Forces sacrifice to a new level. Americans are a good and loving people but they can be your worse enemy. If we perceived that the sacrifice of our finest young people had been thrown away by cowardice or indifference many people who have supported this war would want to say “goodbye and good luck” and I would probably have been one of them. Our armed forces can do many things but they cannot fan the embers of freedom that burn in the hearts of men. God and the oppressed can only fan those embers themselves. We can give them the chance but the choice is theirs.”
“So while I am proud of the Iraqi people and will continue to support them and all of the oppressed of the world in their quest for freedom, I am most proud of our beloved dead. 1400 KIA and almost twenty thousand wounded. That’s a lot of blood to water the tree of freedom. While they are no longer with us the Lord remembers them and we will too. They have fulfilled their duty and that duty has been justified. Your all dismissed.”
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Steven.newton1@att.net
The “Old Sarge” series is fictional
Right, it was sort of a judgement day for the Iraqi people, and if they hadn't come out by the millions and then waved their ink-stained index fingers afterwards, it would have been hopeless.
GREAT website, BTW.
bttt
Great Old Sarge !!! I really like the comments and the timeliness of this one. We are very proud of our brothers in arms and also that those US and coalition forces have not been wounded or struck down in vain.
Keep em coming Ol' Sarge!!!!
Thanks
We will not allow them to have died in vain, Sarge.