Notes to a kid
who will possibly go to war…..
The kid after a
week in boot camp suffered stressed fractures on both legs. It was
August of 2001. It took him two months in rehab before he underwent
the rigorous marine "crucible" . It was December that year
when he rejoined his platoon to finish infantry school at Camp Pendleton,
San Diego, California.
Tough kid. Bbut
not that tough. He hurt his legs again in a training exercise somewhere
in the mountains in California. Back to rehab! After two months, the
kid found himself on a plane to Okinawa, Japan - a full-pledged Marine
Lance Corporal. He fell in love with the culture there. He started
reading and dreamed of going back there to teach english.
Last year in August,
he was assigned in an air wing marine base in the East. He kept on
reading about War and Peace.
The kid called
his Dad last night. "It's too cold here outside - in a public
phone near a marine base," he said. "All our gear and equipment
are ready to go. ready to fly. We do not know where - Kuwait, Bahrain.
Whatever. One to two weeks maybe..while we wait, I'll finish Tolstoy.."
The kid's father
could not speak. In his readings, he learned that in the event of
war, the Pentagon has planned a devastating onslaught on Iraq in 48
hours of bombardment - unleashing a fury 10 times as in 1991. The
first two days of the campaign, an estimated 3000 precision guided
missiles will rain on Iraq then followed by a concentrated parachute-assisted
assaults by British and American special forces...
"I'll keep
you posted.I'll call you back.." the kid said.
The kid knows
his rifle - very well.
After 48 hours
of hell, what gives? Is there an end to it?
+++++++
February 9, 2003. A Point of View, a reply to John S. Kass a columnist
at the Chicago Tribune:
Dear John:
I read with interest your column in today's (February 9) Chicago Tribune,
"Views Put to Test When it's Your Kid Who Goes to War."
I am one of those fathers who, like you thinks about the possible
war with Iraq "calmly, rationally, honorably taking opposite
sides and defending these positions without getting personal."
However, I too "while alone in my thoughts" these cold bitter
days of Chicago winter, can't help but ruminate in my own personal
way how I view war and the consequences that a rifle's crack and the
burst of bombs can change the world.
My son is a 20-year old Marine, who, after high school chose the "Crucible"
and the rifle. He doesn't have a phone now. He calls us from a public
phone in a Marine base camp in the East; he won't tell where he would
go; their unit's gear and equipment are packed and ready - to join
the thousands of men and women somewhere where the theatre of war
looms; somewhere where they say the devil dwells with weapons of mass
destruction. My son like a true soldier will there once his commonader-in-chief
orders: "Let's roll."
His busines is his rifle. He knows how to use it well. - for love
and honor for these United States. Images of montezuma, Tripoli, Guam,
Samar, Korea, Iwo Jima, Vietnam - ad inifinitum run in his mental
span. He probably knows its glory and gore.
I do not want to reminisce about the war in my generation nor my fathers.
Right or wrong, war destroys.
John, you wrote: "Ambivalence is refuge now. It is a haven for
politiicans who want wiggle room."
I have found a choice. It's the best I have chosen: give peace a chance.
They say the devil had been given a chance for 12 long years; they
say we can no longer wait but bomb the devil!
I say, I must listen to the wisdom of the sermon on the mount; must
listen to Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.; Mother Theresa, Jose Rizal,
Carter and to the nameless millions in this good earth who long for
peace.
John, there is plenty of leg room in your "wiggle room."
A dear Australian friend of mine wrote: " We (Americans) should
have a very big heart - perhaps the wisdom of Solomon - someone who
is big enough not to bluster and swagger and patient enough (like
Job?) to search long and hard for a peaceful way."
In other words John, why hurry for war? Why hurry for my son to fire
his rifle when there are "wiggle rooms" for peace?
+++++++++
February 9 2003 4PM
"In another two hours, my unit will be on a plane to Kuwait….I
won't know when I'll call you….."
February 16 2003 10:30pm
"Louie called while you were out…he really didn't talk much…won't
give details…and not so newsfull. He said he'll call again tomorrow
night.."
+++++++++++
