Posted on 10/25/2007 1:18:42 PM PDT by TheDon
Ismael Rougle knew. He served in the Army during the Vietnam War and suffered the loss of good friends there.
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And though she liked to pretend otherwise, Nancy Rougle knew, too. Her son feared that this would be his final combat tour and had told her so. They all knew the cost of war. "But not like this," sighed Ismael Rougle as he struggled to consider a world without his eldest son, Larry. "No, not like this." Ismael Rougle learned Tuesday afternoon that his son, a 25-year-old U.S. Army sniper, had been shot in the stomach and killed in Afghanistan's volatile Kunar Province. On Wednesday afternoon, the grieving father was bent under the hood of an old truck, his oil-stained hands contorted behind the leaky radiator as he recalled the day his then-17-year-old son had come home to say that he was going to join the Army. "I'd never suggested it," said Ismael Rougle, who had served 25 years in the Army. "But he had it in his mind that this is what he wanted to do. And he was so proud."
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Two years later, in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Larry Rougle departed for his first combat tour. He was 19. Over the six years that have followed, family members said, Larry Rougle served two more tours in Afghanistan and three in Iraq. "Six tours," Ismael Rougle said. "Six." Family members say Larry Rougle never complained about being called away from home, not even after his then-wife gave birth to a daughter, Carmin Jade, now 3 years old. He loved the girl more than anything, they said, but remained proud to serve and committed to victory.
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(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
6 tours? Must have re-upped.
Islam cost us another good man....
RIP
Likewise. God bless this fine man / warrior and his entire family.
Prayer bump
most of your military don’t have a problem deploying at all. the like the adventure, an opportunity to serve, and tax free money. They don’t like back to back multiple tours with little down time. Those that are active are pretty much doing what they want to do as a career. All they need is a little time off 18 months or so between tours to decompress, to reconnect with families.
Combat death is always considered a possibility, and its a roll of the dice. If one doesn’t want that risk, they shouldn’t volunteer. Even so, most are proud to serve and we shouldn’t grieve over this families loss. Believe me, his sacrifice is our nation’s gain. If Afhganistan falls, Pakistan falls. And Pakistan does have nukes and Al Queda.
Our nation should be proud we have young men and women to fight the fight that the idealistic, rose-colored glassed cowards refuse to fight themselves, except through denigration of efforts, and failure to acknowledge our soldiers successes. Twenty years from now, this man’s efforts will be remember for a long time in his community. Especially when the full scope and depth of the threat that seeks to kill us is revealed.
That's the problem, they're getting a whole lot less than that. The new Joint Chief's chairman addressed NCOs recently and said how he was hoping soon to reverse the current rotation of 15 months deployed and 12 months back in the states. That's still short of the 18 months you spoke of.
If we are serious about this war reinstate the DRAFT then lets see what happens.
And that’s where the navy is coming in. When Mike Mullen was CNO he spoke at the OKC Navy Ball last year and told the sailors in the hall to “get ready”. Big Navy and reservists are being used as filler for army jobs due to the wearing down of the army and guard. Now that he is the CJCS, he has to ensure that his money is where his mouth is. Navy can drive trucks, fix em, do security, staff jobs, we are doing it all. AND we can to “play army” with all our new gear, something we have wanted to do at one time or another since we were 6 years old. Army just needs to be a little more generous on the side SAPI plates for the IBA.
I have no problem with that. Also pass a law that all Congressional members immediate family members and cousins age 18 -25 are the first to be drawn up. THAT will truly show the world our nation’s committment.
We may not have needed the short turnarounds had Algore, under the direction of Komrade Klinton, reinvented the Armed Forces by reducing the standing army by 40%.
The draft would be needed if Congress funded the doubling of the size of the military. Since they will not fund a rapid increase in the size of the military a draft is not needed.
Liberals dream of a draft only for the protests it will bring to the colleges, just like the 60s. Burning draft cards, sit ins, if they get real lucky they might even bring about another Kent State - Oh, think of the fun they could have with that in the MSM.
I salute all in the service to our country today. Volunteers each and every one.
I blame Bubba Clinton’s “peace dividend”. He cut the military size down, relied more on the National Guard, and spent the money on personal projects.
How is it possible to serve 6 tours in the 6 years, since the war started in Afghanistan on Oct. 2001?
Those must have been very brief “tours”, or tours split between Iraq and Afghanistan and counted as two tours....
Something doesn’t add up...
And what, exactly, had George Bush done to reverse that?
Yeah, but Bush has had time to reverse that, hasn't he?
the folks I talk to, the ones still active, with the 1st CAV and the 4th ID, a few at Campbell, the ones who finally got out and are attending the community college that I’m the VA manager of, all pretty much say that they’re tired of all the deployments- the so called “dwell time” is bullshit...after a month of recovery, they were right back in the field, ramping up for the next trip...speaking only for myself, and my experiences, adventure went out the window with first contact...I’m not trying to pick a fight, but I do grieve over this young man and his family...I’ll hold one up for him at the VFW Saturday...
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