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Even Soldiers Cry

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OCBuckWife

OCBuckWife

I am the evil monkey in your closet
I recently, out of the blue, reconnected with a very old friend. He was in the Army, stationed at Ft. Bragg, at the same time as I was. We lost touch about 17 years ago and just this week we found each other again. I am now a member of his military themed forum, Paratrooper.net - The Digital Dropzone. If you want to find me on there, I am RiggerGal38.

On this forum is a thread that at the time was for, by and about the 9/11 disaster. A place for people to try to find others who had been devastated by the incident. There were many posts from all walks of life. Wives, husbands, soldiers, civilians. To paraphrase one poster, "Death from Above" became something completely different that day.

The posts were eventually organized into a document entitled "Even Soldiers Cry." It is a very powerful document. The following is the forward.

Forward
It is with great reluctance that I write this forward. I believe the words of these
men and women stand completely on their own.
However, as a civilian, I would like to say something.
There is a mystery to most of us about the military. Sometimes it seems silent; at
other times it seems menacing; and still other times, it moves us to tears.
That mysterious silence about the military really isn't that hard to understand.
While we are rushing from fad to fad, eating fast food, watching 30 second commercials,
5 minute music videos, using lightning fast modems, driving faster cars, keeping tighter
schedules?while we live this fast paced American life, the soldiers of our military sit
quietly in the background, protecting us. They never sell themselves out to the media.
They simply do not have to. And their example in maintaining their integrity is one that
we should take note of.
They also endure cutting words from protesters; low pay, months away from their
families, harsh elements, disrespect from teenagers, and much more. They, once again,
do this silently and with tolerance.
We, as Americans, have a responsibility to support our military. Our freedoms
and rights; the $200,000 home, the job, the schools, your car, video games, coffee shops,
the newspapers we read?ALL of it can be taken away. If we want all of our "things"
and all of our "rights" to be protected, then we have to step up to the plate.
After 9/11, we had a renewed sense of patriotism. We suddenly understood that
our firefighters, policemen and EMTs were heroes. And we cheered as our soldiers went
off to battle evil. We, hopefully, learned a lesson on that day?one that I hope we never
forget.
The job these soldiers do is not pretty. They are trained to desensitize themselves
to the enemy in order to be able to kill. They use rough language and politically incorrect
terms in that effort to desensitize. But they are not monsters. They are insightful,
sensitive, caring and, sometimes, even a little emotional. They do not relish the thought
of killing. What they relish is the thought of protecting, of attacking evil, of driving off
those who wish to do their country harm. And it is NOT pretty or sexy. It is simply what
HAS to be done.
We must always remember that even after the patriotic songs begin to grow quiet,
even as the flags start to come down, even as we become complacent again?even then,
our soldiers will STILL be there. They allow us to become comfortable; to relax; to feel
secure and safe. They also allow us the right to speak our minds, to protest, and to
disagree.
You can hate what these men and women HAVE to do to protect you, but we can
never stop supporting and loving our soldiers.
After all, they loved us enough to be there.
Marsha Sears
Click to expand...
For the full pdf please go here.

Paratrooper.net is similar to the Planet. It is run privately, from the heart, for the people it attracts. The admin is a former 82nd Airborne paratrooper who is now intimately involved in the 82nd Airborne Association.
 
I just reread my post and wanted to clarify.

I am not pimping my friends site. I posted the link to this document because it's very much worth a read. It is personal experiences of a disaster that forever changed the United States. It is a testament and memorial. It is a way of seeing an event like this from and thru the eyes of the people who knew what would be asked of them, soldiers and spouses alike, male and female, young and old. It's a new perspective of a historical event.
 
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