| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
19 Mar 2006 09:27:42 AM |
| Object: |
Chidren of War. |
From The Columbus Duspatch, 3/19/06:
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/19/20060319-A1-01.html
CHILDREN OF WAR
Three-year Iraq conflict leaves emotional casualties close to home
By Kristy Eckert
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
HERE ARE THE youngest victims of the Iraq war.
Some crawl around in diapers.
Some play ball.
Some are learning to drive.
The younger ones wonder when Dad is coming home.
The older ones know better.
They are the 65 children of Ohio troops killed since the United States
began Operation Iraqi Freedom three years ago today.
The war has claimed the lives of more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen and
servicewomen, including 105 from Ohio, the Defense Department says.
At least 34 of the Ohioans were parents, all fathers ages 19 to 49,
according to Dispatch interviews with families and a review of
obituaries, newspaper reports and online tributes.
Seven died before seeing their newborns.
The children now are scattered nationwide, some in Ohio and others
near military bases where their fathers worked.
Strangers linked by a tragic commonality, they deal with their losses
in ways both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
Four-year-old Trinity Wobler takes her dad’s picture off the wall,
sits at the kitchen table and talks to him.
Five-year-old Jacob Benford releases a balloon, tilts his head toward
the clouds until it disappears, and then says, ‘‘Daddy has my
balloon."
Two-year-old Daniel Shepherd knows which grave is his father’s, and he
runs toward it.
Kassie Shepherd isn’t sure how she will someday explain things to
Daniel, who is named for his father, Army Sgt. Daniel Shepherd.
He was killed at age 23 in August 2004, before seeing his namesake.
Words alone won’t suffice, said Mrs. Shepherd, who lives near
Cleveland and talks about her highschool sweetheart between tears and
chuckles.
‘‘(I can) say, ‘Yeah, he was funny, and he liked to play jokes on
people,’ " she said.
‘‘But he’s not going to know any of that stuff."
The void, experts say, will persist, growing more pronounced with
milestones in life, from first ballgames to weddings.
They’ve seen it with past generations: the children of World War II
and the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
‘‘The loss of a parent at a young age is huge," said Linda Goldman, a
therapist in Maryland who has written five books about children and
grief.
‘‘There’s always that piece that is missing."
For military kids especially, experts say, the loss is often
magnified:
Besides a parent, many also lose bedrooms, friends and familiar
surroundings when families move out of homes at bases and even to new
cities.
Bonnie Carroll, chairwoman of the national military support group TAPS
(Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) has seen children struggle
with a loss of identity.
‘‘When a child has grown up on military bases, around military
schools, a big part of their own identity is in the military," she
said.
‘‘So when that loss occurs, it’s a big concern: Are we still a part of
the military?"
Images of violent death might haunt the children.
And media coverage can serve as a constant reminder of their personal
tragedy.
Many families who have lost loved ones support the war.
Others decline to discuss the politics of it. Some question it.
Courtney Kuhns, who has a 2-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, hopes that
something good results from her husband’s death.
Army Sgt. Larry Kuhns Jr., an outgoing and outdoorsy man of 24,
supported the war.
He was killed in June in a grenade attack.
‘‘I guess it’s something that has to be done," said Mrs. Kuhns, who
lives in the Youngstown area.
‘‘But I think it cost us more than it’s worth."
Controversy over the war could affect these children later, Goldman
said.
As they grow, she said, they might question whether their parents died
for a worthy cause.
______________________________________________________
Harry
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| User: "old hoodoo" |
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| Title: Re: Chidren of War. |
19 Mar 2006 12:46:38 PM |
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Harry Hope wrote:
From The Columbus Duspatch, 3/19/06:
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/19/20060319-A1-01.html
CHILDREN OF WAR
Three-year Iraq conflict leaves emotional casualties close to home
Harry:
Anyone who would worry about the emotional scars of children ought to
get out more. There has not been a single prolonged war in the history
of man that has not caused significant physical damage to children....be
it starvation, injury from wounds, privation, desease, death....I have
picks of starving children from many different wars....people forget
their tortured little bodies...they only see the flags, the uniforms,
the tanks, planes, etc....they never see the REAL horror.
Forget the emotional *****....you have to prevent the physical damage
first...
No one, not even the peacenicks ever stand up for the children.
Perhaps the US's biggest error was not committing to the complete
rebuilding of Iraq after the quick war. That is, not taking
responsibility for our own acts.
Had we done it properly with enough men and money from the get go, we
would be out of Iraq already and at less overall cost.
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