From Fallujah:
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The author is a Marine Corps rifle company commander waiting to attack into Fallujah. He is writing to his Dad, a retired Marine. All names have been removed.
Dad,
Things have been busy here. You know I canâ??t say much about it.
However, I do know two things. One, POTUS (President of the United States) has given us the green light to do whatever we needed to do to win this thing so we have that going for us. Two, and my opinion only, this battle is going to have far reaching effects on not only the war here in Iraq but in the overall war on terrorism. We have to be very precise in our application of combat power. We cannot kill a lot of innocent folks (though they are few and far between in Fallujah).
There will be no shock and awe. There will be plenty of bloodshed at the lowest levels. This battle is the Marine Corpsâ?? Belleau Wood for this war. 2/1 and 1/5 will be leading the way. We have to find a way to kill the bad guys only. The Fallujahans are fired up and ready for a fight (or so they think). A lot of terrorists and foreign fighters are holed up in Fallujah. It has been a sanctuary for them. If they have not left town they are going to die. Iâ??m hoping they stay and fight.
This way we wonâ??t have to track them down one by one.
This battle is going to be talked about for a long time. The Marine Corps will either reaffirm its place in history as one of the greatest fighting organizations in the world or we will die trying. The Marines are fired up. Iâ??m nervous for them though because I know how much is riding on this fight (the war in Iraq, the view of the war at home, the length of the war on terror and the reputation of the Marine Corps to name a few). However, every time Iâ??ve been nervous during my career about the outcome of events when young Marines were involved they have ALWAYS exceeded my expectations. Iâ??m praying this is one of those times.
* * *
Can't say it enough. Support your brothers and sisters in this fight. They are depending on you as much as we depend on them. If you know a family or a soldier you can call, visit or e-mail, do it and let them know they are in your thoughts. These kids make me profoundly proud to be an American.
A Red Letter Day
Moderators: Tunnelcat, Jeff250
Being an ex-marine, I can only say I am immensly proud to see the esprit de corps (damne french phrase) is alive and well in todays marines
For someone like Kennedy (the new Jane Fonda) to spout off and compare Iraq to vietnam only can give impetus to murderous thugs like al Sadr to think that they can mire us down and perhaps gain a political toehold through a negotiated settlement...if only they hold out long enough and kill enough people. Heck it worked in vietnam and if enough people like Saddam Kennedy spout off, perhaps it will. As long as our marines have POTUS behind them, most of the dead will be the radical Iraqi's.
Contrary to Ted "Hic" Kennedy, Iraq is not anywhere near comparable to vietnam. Having Bush give the military full control to prosecute this war is far different than the constricted war Johnson, Nixon and Kissenger laid on our troops during the hippy war. Going in with the full backing of from the president on down, gives a grunt a hellava lot more confidence in what he is doing.However, I do know two things. One, POTUS (President of the United States) has given us the green light to do whatever we needed to do to win this thing so we have that going for us.
For someone like Kennedy (the new Jane Fonda) to spout off and compare Iraq to vietnam only can give impetus to murderous thugs like al Sadr to think that they can mire us down and perhaps gain a political toehold through a negotiated settlement...if only they hold out long enough and kill enough people. Heck it worked in vietnam and if enough people like Saddam Kennedy spout off, perhaps it will. As long as our marines have POTUS behind them, most of the dead will be the radical Iraqi's.
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TheCops
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thank you to my countrymen who serve in the armed forces. i'm truly sorry for turning this dbb thread into another squabble about my ego.
my thanks is for real, i could not live such a comfortable life without your sacrifices. i do not blindly walk down the street, play my guitar, play my video game, and drink my coffee without recognition of the military.
current world events have you thrust into violence i can never imagine... and you do it because you respect the principles of freedom, justice, and peace for all human beings.
thank you.
my thanks is for real, i could not live such a comfortable life without your sacrifices. i do not blindly walk down the street, play my guitar, play my video game, and drink my coffee without recognition of the military.
current world events have you thrust into violence i can never imagine... and you do it because you respect the principles of freedom, justice, and peace for all human beings.
thank you.
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TheCops
- DBB Fleet Admiral
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- Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2002 2:01 am
- Location: minneapolis, mn
- Contact:
another reason i say thank you. a self-less human.Friday, April 23, 2004
By Adrian Wojnarowski
Special to ESPN.com
Pat Tillman never wanted to be a big story, or an American hero. He just wanted to do his duty, as proudly and anonymously as the soldiers who stood by his side.
There were no news conferences, no interviews, no parades, no self-congratulations. A year ago, Tillman left his new wife, Marie, his $3.6 million NFL contract and disappeared into the desert night.
He fought with the Army Rangers in Eastern Afghanistan, chasing al-Qaida and Taliban into the dark corners and dangerous shadows. In the end, he turned out to be one more soldier returning home to the sad, sad sound of Taps.
With his ultimate sacrifice, Tillman serves as a reminder that there were so many more like him, so many more coming home just like him: Draped under an American flag, tears flowing over the casket.
He never did explain one of the most amazing stories in sports, an Arizona Cardinal leaving the glamour, the money, the good life for an enlistment wage of $17,000 and the risk of that firefight on Thursday that cost him his life.
September 11, 2001 didn't inspire Tillman to wear a flag on his football helmet or sing the "Star Spangled Banner" a little louder on Sundays. It inspired an epiphany that most Americans would've never stopped long enough to consider -- never mind act upon.
Without ever meeting him, without ever hearing him completely detail his motives, it seems that what Pat Tillman would've wanted today was everyone to remember those Americans and allies dying every day in Afghanistan and Iraq. The ultimate sacrifice wasn't walking away from football and a fortune, because clearly his principles and priorities transcended the values of the culture. To Tillman, it seemed, the ultimate sacrifice belonged to the fathers and mothers who left families back in the States, whose deaths merit a story in the hometown paper and a red, white and blue wreath in the cemetery.
Tillman is a face for today, and maybe America needed that, because everyone had started to grow numb to the mounting losses overseas, that lost sense of the tragedy that unfolded every day there. The big, fancy televised battles finished with the fall of Baghdad, and maybe Americans who became lost again in the every day minutia needed a kick in the stomach.
Today's loss turned out to be Pat Tillman. Maybe he was never so bold to believe that this could be the result of his brave choice to enlist, but more than a year later, it is clearly the bright lining to his dark loss:
The way no soldier could've done -- for better or worse, for whatever it says of our society -- one familiar face made millions of Americans stop and consider the sacrifices of those serving with him.
Selflessness is thrown around too carelessly in sports, ballplayers made out to be heroes when they're willing to switch positions. Pat Tillman has transcended himself into a standard of selflessness and sacrifice that will take on what it deserves: Mythical proportion.
There will be no footage, no tape, no real records of him describing the details of his decision, of talking on and on about the choice he made in life. And maybe, he understood: It was completely unnecessary.
In a climate where everyone talks so much about so little, Pat Tillman believed that sometimes a man needed to make a stand in his life. His spoke for himself, yes, but in the end, in his death, it did too for the sacrifice of every soldier without a voice.
An American hero died in Afghanistan on Thursday, but what Pat Tillman was able to remind everyone back home was that, tragically, they die every day.
Adrian Wojnarowski is a columnist for The Record and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPNWoj8@aol.com.
It's just plain trashy and depraved to use someone's heartfelt words as a springboard for a political "See, I'm right, you're wrong, HA! Bite me!" You ought to be ashamed, woodchip, but I already know you're not. 
I don't think our troops get enough thanks for all of the work they are doing. They have put their lives on the line, sacrificing themselves for a war. So, to the faceless soldiers fighting in that desert hellhole, thank you. I cannot express that enough.
I don't think our troops get enough thanks for all of the work they are doing. They have put their lives on the line, sacrificing themselves for a war. So, to the faceless soldiers fighting in that desert hellhole, thank you. I cannot express that enough.
these soldiers fight because they are ordered to. i support them as much as a i can, they have no choice, that is what they are here to do. You should always support the soldiers even if you don't support the cause. the only people that don't are the ones that dont know anyone over there. i do. thanks
The troops deserve our support. I am aghast at the events post-Vietnam, when our soldiers came back only to be chastised, labeled as "baby killers," and generally ridiculed by hippies who would never set foot in Vietnam. That was just plain wrong. If I have a personal mission about this war, it's that I don't want to see this fate happen to any of our hardworking soldiers. It doesn't matter if you support the war or not. Support the soldiers who put their necks on the line. They are more brave and heroic than I would ever be.