Harry Hope wrote:

From The Washington Post, 1/3/06:

A Life, Wasted

Let's Stop This War Before More Heroes Are Killed

By Paul E. Schroeder

Tuesday, January 3, 2006; Page A17


Early on Aug. 3, 2005, we heard that 14 Marines had been killed in
Haditha, Iraq.

Our son, Lance Cpl. Edward "Augie" Schroeder II, was stationed there.
At 10:45 a.m. two Marines showed up at our door.

After collecting himself for what was clearly painful duty, the
lieutenant colonel said, "Your son is a true American hero."

Since then, two reactions to Augie's death have compounded the
sadness.

At times like this, people say, "He died a hero."

I know this is meant with great sincerity.

We appreciate the many condolences we have received and how helpful
they have been.

But when heard repeatedly, the phrases "he died a hero" or "he died a
patriot" or "he died for his country" rub raw.

"People think that if they say that, somehow it makes it okay that he
died," our daughter, Amanda, has said.

"He was a hero before he died, not just because he went to Iraq. I was
proud of him before, and being a patriot doesn't make his death okay.
I'm glad he got so much respect at his funeral, but that didn't make
it okay either."

The words "hero" and "patriot" focus on the death, not the life.

They are a flag-draped mask covering the truth that few want to
acknowledge openly:

Death in battle is tragic no matter what the reasons for the war.

The tragedy is the life that was lost, not the manner of death.

Families of dead soldiers on both sides of the battle line know this.

Those without family in the war don't appreciate the difference.

This leads to the second reaction.

Since August we have witnessed growing opposition to the Iraq war, but
it is often whispered, hands covering mouths, as if it is dangerous to
speak too loudly.

Others discuss the never-ending cycle of death in places such as
Haditha in academic and sometimes clinical fashion, as in "the
increasing lethality of improvised explosive devices."

Listen to the kinds of things that most Americans don't have to
experience:

The day Augie's unit returned from Iraq to Camp Lejeune, we received a
box with his notebooks, DVDs and clothes from his locker in Iraq.

The day his unit returned home to waiting families, we received the
second urn of ashes.

This lad of promise, of easy charm and readiness to help, whose
highest high was saving someone using CPR as a first aid squad
volunteer, came home in one coffin and two urns.

We buried him in three places that he loved, a fitting irony, I
suppose, but just as rough each time.

I am outraged at what I see as the cause of his death.

For nearly three years, the Bush administration has pursued a policy
that makes our troops sitting ducks.

While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee that our policy is to "clear, hold and build"
Iraqi towns, there aren't enough troops to do that.

In our last conversation, Augie complained that the cost in lives to
clear insurgents was "less and less worth it," because Marines have to
keep coming back to clear the same places.

Marine commanders in the field say the same thing.

Without sufficient troops, they can't hold the towns.

Augie was killed on his fifth mission to clear Haditha.

At Augie's grave, the lieutenant colonel knelt in front of my wife
and, with tears in his eyes, handed her the folded flag.

He said the only thing he could say openly:

"Your son was a true American hero."

Perhaps.

But I felt no glory, no honor.

Doing your duty when you don't know whether you will see the end of
the day is certainly heroic.

But even more, being a hero comes from respecting your parents and all
others, from helping your neighbors and strangers, from loving your
spouse, your children, your neighbors and your enemies, from honesty
and integrity, from knowing when to fight and when to walk away, and
from understanding and respecting the differences among the people of
the world.

Two painful questions remain for all of us.

Are the lives of Americans being killed in Iraq wasted?

Are they dying in vain?

President Bush says those who criticize staying the course are not
honoring the dead.

That is twisted logic:

honor the fallen by killing another 2,000 troops in a broken policy?

I choose to honor our fallen hero by remembering who he was in life,
not how he died.

A picture of a smiling Augie in Iraq, sunglasses turned upside down,
shows his essence -- a joyous kid who could use any prop to make
others feel the same way.

Though it hurts, I believe that his death -- and that of the other
Americans who have died in Iraq -- was a waste.

They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by
removing a dictator -- a careless misunderstanding of what democracy
requires.

They were wasted by not sending enough troops to do the job needed in
the resulting occupation -- a careless disregard for professional
military counsel.

But their deaths will not be in vain if Americans stop hiding behind
flag-draped hero masks and stop whispering their opposition to this
war.

Until then, the lives of other sons, daughters, husbands, wives,
fathers and mothers may be wasted as well.

This is very painful to acknowledge, and I have to live with it.

So does President Bush.

___________________________________________________

Harry

Harry:
I don't like the war either but this article is tripe. The writer
has no understanding of what service in the military is about.
No military death is a waste, it is part of duty, honor, and sacrifice
inherent in being a soldier, not the justness of the war the politicians
decide to fight, not the mistakes made by commanders (both civilian and
military), or even fellow troops (such as friendly fire). A soldier is
part of the whole. His existance contributes to the whole. When he
dies, in combat, in training, or in an accident, before his death he has
contributed to the whole. That is what real soldering is about, duty,
honor, and sacrifice. It doesn't matter if he is a volunteer or a
draftee.

It is sad that the soldier's father sees his sons life
wasted...this is partially due to the pain of loss, I am sure, but the
soldiers father just isn't seeing what his son really died doing and his
contribuition to his country. Of course, listening to a lot of those
"patriots" who wrap everything up in a bloody flag to support the war
can be vexing....but equally vexing are those who use the corpses to
decry the war.

War is truly politics by other means. Soldiers are above politics
when they are performing their duty and should be honored accordingly.