And Off He Goes

Top to Bottom:(1) Sista holding Ty, SSG GI Bri with Princess Nani. (2) Ty with his Daddy. (3) Daddy with Princess Nani when she was so little.

My BIL left for Iraq today... he leaves here in the states my sister, my niece, my nephew and an army brat bun in the oven. They should be back with us in a few days but the reunion is bittersweet. We get to keep them for ourselves for 10 whole months but at a cost we hate to think of. SSG. GI Bri will be protecting our family, our country from the other side of the world.

It does not matter if you support our President... it does not matter if you believe in what the government is doing. What matters is that there is no easy way to bring them home without hurting those who will remain, and there will always be some who stay. All that matters is that we support THEM. Those men and women who are overseas keeping the fight off of our soil. I am proud that my BIL is serving our country this way. I am proud but scared for him (whom I've known nearly all my life), for my sister and their kids, for his parents, my parents and for us.

Its easy to say that you support the troops (or not) if you don't have someone you love over there or even in the military. You can have your opinion but the truth is... this isn't Vietnam. We should not criticize our troops, dump on their moral or their values the way many Americana's have since we sent those first troops over there.

It reminds me of those who judge parents for the way they are raising their children when they don't have children themselves. Its self righteous and selfish. The world does not revolve around you. You can disagree with the way our Govt. is handling the war, disagree with why we are there. The truth is its too late. We are in the thick of it and there is NO EASY WAY OUT! Let them finish this they way they have to, or give us the answers we need to SAFELY bring them all home. If you or I were soldiers, or military officers or the Commander in Chief then we would have to make decisions that civilians going to our offices, paying our car payments, mortgages, filling our cars up with gas, don't actually have to make; everyday life and death for ourselves and those below us, beside us, apart from us (if they happen to be the Iraqi's we are unsure of where their loyalty lies), decisions. We have virtually no idea. If you think the press discloses half of what really happens you are sorely mistaken. Things happen that are far worse, but many are far better than what is disclosed. We hear of those who are hurt and killed. We don't hear about those wonderful men and women who are helping small markets by buying and dispersing goods and toys to boys and girls on the street. The schools that are open because we secured the area from insurgents. The police force that everyone expects to be up to par even if its held at unrealistic expectations. We are helping shape a brand new government that is on the oldest established land on Earth. These people are so set in their ways, yet we (those of us here on US soil watching the news) expect them to change virtually overnight.

We are doing what we can with what we have. We are finishing a job we may or may not have had the right to start but we cannot turn back now. We have to support those soldiers who protect our freedom. Show them that we love them, that we believe in them and their mission so that THEY HAVE A REASON TO COME HOME!

SSG GI BRI, Come home safe. We will be praying for you. We will keep our flags flying for you, we will keep our yellow ribbons up to support you and all those who are fighting with you. You are a hero to us. Stay SAFE. We can't wait for you to come home.

September 11th is right around the corner. Please say a prayer in remembrance. Please think of what happened on that morning that so many of our citizens, firefighters, police and Paramedics and hero's from OUR free country DIED because from some other country a few radial men proved their hate for us. Try not to forget that our soldiers are over there to keep a day like that from happening to us again.