My son is a combat infantryman- after hearing about this he wondered just what it is intellectuals think we train our military to do...
As an Army mom I've closely observed our response(s) to the Iraq war for two years now. When my son went to Iraq the country was in a Rah-rah-sis-boom-bah kind of mood...cheering for our soldiers etc. Barely two years later I listen to the same people repeating the crap they said during Vietnam.
As often happens- watching an ongoing event from afar gives a distorted view. Civilians like me will never understand what a soldier knows nor can we comprehend the love between them.
As long as the marines in his command know what he meant- I am in NO position to question him.
Bless you and your son, SE mom.
There's a rush on the homefront too when the troopship is on the tide and the war is about to start. I'd never felt anything like it. I don't know why but this was different from Desert Storm. It seemed like we were holding our breaths for months and when we finally released the hounds there was the same sort of relief the poster was talking about, albeit on a much smaller scale.
I was beating the drum for war. I didn't see what else we could do at the time. It sure is easy when the sun is shining, Saddam's in a prison cell, and we haven't lost any americans for a while, to carp and criticize what the military is doing, and has done.
No war is ever over in a couple of weeks it would seem. I support our troops, I support our mission, and I support our CinC 110%. I loved what Matthis said. I only get angry when it seems that the leadership is placing the lives of Iraqi citizens who may be terrorists ahead of the safety of our men. I wish they would stop that because many times they end up protecting the terrorists who proceed to keep terrorizing those same civilians until we finally go in and put a stop to it.
Sorry for the long post. I just wish we'd go in with the iron fist and get this over with. War isn't something that should be dragged out. Guess they're afraid they'll lose our allies if they do that.