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Military parents struggle
between pride and fear

Each death in Iraq and Afghanistan tears at my heart even more now that some of my own children have chosen to serve in the U.S. military. Both pride and fear hold me.

I supported the war on terror. Am I a hypocrite because a part of me would be overjoyed if we pulled out tomorrow? I mean, who gives a crap about anything, except the safety of my kids? I will be plagued by guilt should something bad happen because I did not try to stop them from enlisting. I hope that it was enough that I tried to keep them informed of alternate options for their young lives.

But at times like this a parent has to revel in the pride of having children who are brave and selfless enough to defend this country and freedom. I know they made the right decision for the country. I pray to God that it was the right decision for each of them.

Am I prepared to lose my child? Of course not. Just as I would not have been prepared if I had been the father of a policeman or fireman who died during 9/11 or any tragedy. I never will be ready for that.

In the face of this, I have had to re-examine my own support of the war on terror. But the bottom line is the war in Iraq has to be won. It is one of the major battles in a very long, necessary war on terror. How can it be good for America and the world to let terrorists enslave the Iraqi people once more? A terrorist Iraqi government with oil money supporting terror around the world would be inviting another terrorist attack on our homeland. Wouldn't showing weakness encourage an enemy who has vowed to destroy you, your culture and your faith as a duty to God?

Our military is defending the Iraqi people against foreigner invaders. Most of the suicide bombers are not Iraqi, but most victims are. They are civilians and Iraqi police officers.

It is disgusting that so many put politics ahead of patriotism. Trying to undermine the war on terror while our own people are risking their lives is treason. Demanding an immediate pullout or a timetable for withdrawal is stupid. When is it an intelligent strategy to give an enemy our military schedule and plans? Doesn't falsely comparing our soldiers to Nazis and Russian gulag mass murderers cause more hatred against American soldiers? Is taking sexually suggestive pictures of POWs comparable to cutting off heads of innocent civilians and exterminating 6 million Jews? What are these fools thinking? It is ridiculous that the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay incidents get months and months of headlines and receive massive criticism from national and international human rights groups, but terrorists get a relative pass for cutting off civilian heads and purposely blowing up women and children around the world.

Yes, we have lost too many brave men and women in Iraq. But we will lose many more if the terrorists win and attack our homeland again. You cannot reason with people who believe that God will reward them with 72 virgins in heaven for blowing up children.

In the last two years we have lost 1,800 soldiers in Iraq. During World War II we lost 1,400 every week. But the news was not reported as it is today with a daily death tally. We lost thousands in one day on the beaches of Normandy, but there were no calls for the resignation of President Roosevelt.

Yes, we are probably creating more terrorists, but hopefully we are killing even more. During WWII we created more Japanese resistance and resolve as we neared Japan and more Nazi recruiting propaganda as we advanced in Europe. But the hoped-for result is that we will have killed or captured more terrorists than have been created in this war. The alternative is to let the enemy destroy you as you try to not make him mad.

Our American military is probably the most humane fighting force on the planet, but our perception of them has changed. Today, any unsubstantiated complaint against our soldiers is given headline treatment for months.

The bottom line is that the American military has not changed for the worse. It is our perception, expectations and media attention given to our vocal enemies that have. We still need young men and women to serve and defend our country and our freedom. I am very proud of my enlisted children and all those who serve.

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