Home of the brave

When I was 8 years old, my Mom remarried and my brother, sister and I became military brats. My stepfather was a Marine and we proceeded through the remainder of my childhood years to move to Boston, MA (Boston Navy Shipyard), Jacksonville, NC (Camp Legeune), Beaufort, SC (Parris Island), Keene, NH (back "home" while my stepfather served in Vietnam), Berwick, ME and Rochester, NH (Portsmouth Navy Shipyard), and Augusta, GA (Fort Gordon.) I had some issues with my stepfather with regards to his role as husband and father but I had great respect for his being a Marine and serving our country. Unfortunately, he died several years ago. In my formative years, I developed a great love and admiration for all the men and women that put on the uniform and put their lives on the line ...for us. Nothing has changed that emotion in me.

Today I have a nephew who is a Marine serving somewhere in Afghanistan, a son-in-law who is an Army aviator flying Blackhawks in Korea, and another nephew who is currently going through Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas. All three are young guys with their whole lives ahead of them. One happens to be married to my precious daughter who is with him in Korea. I love them all. I am sometimes overwhelmed by their willingness to voluntarily become part of such a dangerous occupation.

On Saturday, a Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade, killing everyone on board... 30 Americans and 8 Afghan soldiers....a tragedy made even more sensational by the sheer number that perished at one time. A tragedy even more noticed because we heard that members of the elite SEAL Team 6 were on board... commandos from the same group that killed Osama bin Laden.

Words fail us when we try to describe how we felt when we heard this news. These were brave soldiers, actually coming to the aid of a ground team that had come under heavy fire from Taliban forces. We collectively grieve with the families of these soldiers. Their deaths will make us question whether the price being paid by our men and women is worth it.

Does it take 30 Americans killed by a single RPG to make us question whether it is time to bring our men and women home? How about the one brave Marine that was killed by a sniper last week? How about the 2 Army soldiers who were killed when their vehicle ran over an IED 6 months ago? Are their deaths not enough to generate the same questions?

Am I selfish for wanting my family members to be out of harm's way? Am I unpatriotic to say let's bring all our men and women home from a war that I do not, after 10 long years, understand anymore?

I cry inside for the 30 brave Americans that perished on Saturday...but I cry no less for the one American that will die tomorrow...or last week. Their deaths, however, won't (or didn't) make the headlines.

America...Home of the brave? You're damn right. But I hope we are also brave enough to know when enough blood has been spilled in a decade long war.