Sacrificed for political gain
I've been receiving an average of 2-5 names a day from a casualty list since I started a few years back belonging to Vietnam Veterans talk list. This list really hit me, for heaven's sake look at their ages people!
"The Department of Defense announced the death of nine soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died of wounds suffered when their outpost was attacked by small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades from enemy forces in Wanat, Afghanistan, on July 13. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy.
Killed were: 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii; Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, Calif.; Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga.; Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash.; Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tenn.; Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Ga.; Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C.; Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Mo.; Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky.
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Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Vrooman, 28, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died July 15 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated while his unit was conducting combat operations in Kn'an, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Vilseck, Germany.
All these commercials on TV telling us we are succeeding over there! How gullible do they think the general public is?
There has been unrest in this section of the world for centuries, what makes us think we can fix the world, at what cost? If its not Iraq, then its Afganistan! Then there is Turkey and Pakistan, Africa.
The money we have spent on these countries, are the monies we could have used to fix our United States issues, flooding, homeless, hunger, jobs etc How many sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, do we need to sacrifice for political gain? My heart just aches when I look at these names. I felt the need to share these names that normally you would not see.
Donna Keefer
Dover
