Come Home Safe
Read more articles on Life and a Writer From Maine.July 28, 2006
Posted by Penny Harmon
July 28, 2006
Posted by Penny Harmon
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Every time you turn on the television, you see and hear about the violence in the world. Whether it is about the War in Iraq or the fighting in Lebanon and Israel, the news flashes scenes of terror and violence. I used to shut the television off, knowing my son was going to Iraq. I didn’t want to know what was going on.
My son has been in Iraq since July 20th and now things have changed. While I still don’t want to know what is going on in Iraq, I now have to know. On Monday, July 24th, my world changed when I received a call from the Army National Guard stating a soldier from my son’s unit had been killed. She stated very clearly that it was not my son, but it didn’t matter. Before he left, I attended a luncheon they had for the soldier’s and their families and I had the opportunity to meet a lot of the men going over. I say men, but most of the soldiers in the unit are around my son’s age of nineteen. They are boys, not men.
When I heard this news, I was devastated. I worried for my son’s best friend, Johnny, who is also nineteen and in his unit. I worried about Cole, who is around thirty, is newly married, and has a son. I found out the next day it was not a soldier from Maine, but one from Wisconsin that I had not met. It doesn’t matter. He was a loving son and his family feels his loss. So do I. I’ve spent the rest of the week cringing whenever someone pulls into the driveway and the dogs bark. I know that if something were to happen to my son, an officer and Father would visit me.
I’m not sure how any other families are dealing with the stress of having their sons, daughters, fathers, husbands, wives, and mothers over in Iraq. I only know that I am not handling things as well as I would like to be. I have plenty of friends to talk to, as well as family and I find talking does help. But nothing makes things easier when I lay down to go to sleep, knowing my son is traveling through the streets of Iraq delivering supplies. He is a Gunner in the middle of a convoy and I worry everyday.
What really upsets me, however, is hearing that President Bush wants to send more troops over to Iraq and boys and men who have been over in Iraq for a year and are due to come home, will not be. I feel for the families of any soldier who is in a war zone. I feel for the families who are expecting their husbands, sons, and fathers to come home soon.
What should we do about the War in Iraq? I don’t know. I am not an expert in political matters. I do not know what should be done to make peace or settle the war. I only know I am a mother who is worried about losing her son and I know I am not the only one.
My only wish is for ALL of the soldiers in Iraq, both men and women, girls and boys, to come home safe.
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