I received an email last night. From a stark military address. From Iraq. From a soldier I don't know, a young man who sent me the photo of a camouflage kid with a man's gun in some hot forgotten wilderness. His eyes leapt from my screen, landed in my pocket. They sit there now, turn, blink, watch the darkness in fear.
You made me laugh, he said. Please write back. Please.
So I did. I don't know why he wrote to an Avon Lady, someone old enough to be his mom, tired enough to be his drill sergeant, invisible enough to be his enemy.
And hey, I added at the end. Keep safe. And thanks. Thanks.
I don't believe in war. I don't believe in much of anything but love. But I hope, I pray, that an overgrown kid in brown and green will sleep like the dead tonight and awake with all the life I ever had.
If you have a kind message to send to my new friend in need of a good laugh, in need of knowing that someone stateside still cares, please leave it here. I'll email them to him.
love to all,
Birdie
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And thank God that "your" soldier is still able to find a laugh, and ask for support. He, and all like him, certainly have mine.
Bless you Birdie, for passing this on.
Tell the young soldier I wish him well and I thank him for his service to our country. My thoughts are with him and his colleagues every day.
We'll just put "Birdie Sent Me" in the subject line.
Keep your head down,
Don't ever volunteer,
and remember that we all are proud of your service and want you to get home so we can show you are gratitude.
sending love back at you, honey. thanks for sharing him.
Tell him *I* am proud of him..Tell hin *I* will write him if he likes and tell him we ALL think him for his service.. nevermind the how or what.
He's not a kid anymore babe, he's a man.
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Captain Ken Pothier |edit January 25, 2006 07:59 PM EST tags: random musings, war and peace, memorial images, veterans and their families, draft, history, us events rating: 9.4/10 (5 votes) | comments: 8
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A picture like this is taken in basic training nomatter which service you are in and in too many cases and in too many wars it is a memorial photo. I lost my college deferment and won the draft lottery with number 77 in a year that they took up to number 150. I volunteered because my father, grandfather and uncles had served. I did not go to Nam but many of those I trained with did and some died. The Viet Nam War was a divisive time for our country and the veterans of that day were not welcomed home but by their families. We did not talk much and held much inside. Kristin Hendersons Articles reminded me of so much from that time and of the importance of separating the troops from the politics of the war. I am overjoyed by the acceptance and support of the veterans since Desert Storm. We of the Viet Nam Era finally felt we had been welcomed back with those troops. We must never, never let what happened during nam happen again. The veterans and their families serve all of us, they do not choose the war, they do not choose their orders, they follow them. We must support them. I received a Johnny Cash Box Set as a gift and just listened to CD2 from 'Cash Unearthed' and the song DRIVE ON moved me to connect all the wars for the troops and their families. All credit goes to the man in black. I changed some words for Afghanistan and Iraq. Someone can sing the new lyrics to the veterans for me as all I can do is jam a little on a blues harp.
Drive On-John Cash-alternate lyrics
Well I've got a friend named Whiskey Sam, he was my boonie rat buddy for a year in Viet Nam
He said I think the country got a little off track, it took them 25 years to welcome me back
But it is better than not coming back at all, many a good man I saw fall and even now every time I dream I hear the men and the monkeys in the jungle scream drive on
.
It don't mean nothing my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
I remember one night Tex and me walked up on two VC
But we had our 16's on rock and roll and we separated them from their souls
I was crazy and I was wild and I have seen the tiger smile I spit in a bamboo vipers face and I'd be dead but by gods grace drive on.
It don't mean nothing my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
Well the mortar fell 20 feet away and I carry shrapnel to this day I came home but Tex did not and I can't talk about the hit he got
But I got a little limp now when I walk and I got a little tremolo when I talk but I finally found out who I am I'm a walking talking miracle from Viet Nam drive on
It don't mean nothing' my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
Drive On Alternate lyrics for Afghanistan
Well I've got a friend named Whiskey Sam, he was my boonie rat buddy for a year in 'Stan
He said I think one more tour carrying this pack and the whole damn country will welcome me back
But it is better than not coming back at all, many a good man I saw fall and even now every time I dream I hear the men and the rockets in these mountains scream drive on
.
It don't mean nothing my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
I remember one night Tex and me walked up on two Taliban
But we had our 16's on rock and roll and we separated them from their souls
I was crazy and I was wild and I have seen the tiger smile I spit in Al Qaeda's face and I'd be dead but by gods grace drive on.
It don't mean nothing my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
Well the mortar fell 20 feet away and I carry shrapnel to this day I came home but Tex did not and I can't talk about the hit he got
But I got a little limp now when I walk and I got a little tremolo when I talk but I finally found out who I am I'm a walking talking miracle from the Devils and Dust of Afghanistan drive on
It don't mean nothing' my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
Drive On Alternate Lyrics for Iraq
Well I've got a friend named Whiskey Sam, he was my desert rat buddy for a year in 'Raq
He said I think if I make it through another tour in Iraq the whole damn country will welcome me back
But it is better than not coming back at all, many a good man I saw fall and even now every time I dream I hear the men and the IED's in the desert scream drive on
.
It don't mean nothing my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
I remember one night Tex and me walked up on two holdover Saddam fools
But we had our 16's on rock and roll and we separated them from their souls
I was crazy and I was wild and I have seen the tiger smile I spit in a desert devils face and I'd be dead but by gods grace drive on.
It don't mean nothing my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
Well the IED blew 20 feet away and I carry shrapnel to this day I came home but Tex did not and I can't talk about the hit he got
But I got a little limp now when I walk and I got a little tremolo when I talk but I finally found out who I am I'm a walking talking miracle from the Devils and Dust of Iraq drive on
It don't mean nothing' my children love me and they understand and I've got a woman who knows her man Drive On
It don't mean nothing it don't mean nothing drive on
May the veterans come home safe and may we all welcome them
Birdie, you can pass this on if you wish as all of the troops will be welcomed back this time around and we honor their service.
First, a joke. This one is my favorite:
What do you get when you cross an agnostic, insomniac and a dyselxic?
Someone who stays up all night wondering if there really is a Dog.
Well tonite there will be someone up all night wondering about you. I will be hoping that you and all your buddies will be safe tonight. I hope that you parents, particularly your mama, will get to hold her baby boy in her arms again. I think about that a lot. I have a 3 year old boy. And I hold him so close to me, I see the news today, and I hold him closer. I hope that out of all the madness in the world something new and peaceful can spring out of it. So mommas all over the world can hold their sons and daughters tight and protect them from things like spiders and the boogie man. Instead, there you are keeping the spiders and the boogie man at bay.
Please take care of yourself and those around you. And stay safe. Tonite when I hug my son I will be sending a hug to you as well. I am not really sure if you will be needing it.....I just know that I do.
Sincerely yours, Heather
I am the mother of three and grandmother to 5 kids. I am also the mother-in-law to a former Navy man, now a Reservist, who was sent to Iraq. He spent a year there. He missed the whole first year of his little daughter's life. He missed her crawling days, her first steps, her first tooth, her first real words.
It broke my heart when he wrote a letter lashing at me for the words I thought he would want to hear about his child and his wife. Towards the end of his tour, he missed his family so much that he did not even want to hear details of their life away from him... it hurt too much.
He's home now. He is home with his arms tight around his family.
May you come home as safe as he did.
God bless you always.
Pearl