Defenders of Freedom

Just finished reading comments on the recent "non-binding" resolution from the brave Congressional defenders of our freedoms as espoused by Some Soldiers Mom.

I am a conservative. And I, like many others, am not pleased by our current Senate, House or Chief Executive (or those preceeding the current sordid lot, for that matter). But I fervently support our troops. I'm not that remote from the free world's largest military base and well know since troops have been deployed following 9/11, that base has been at half strength on any given day, week or month. It is staffed by young Americans who are willing to put everything on the line in an effort to defend that in which they believe. They are my friends and neighbors and they deserve better.

When this whole mess started, I really didn't see it as akin to Vietnam. My basis for opinion was an historical knowledge from relatives who served in WW II as well as myself living thru the time of our efforts in Southeast Asia. Part of that time I was in the Guard. I had friends who didn't come back from Nam, friends who came back maimed and close friends who still wear the scars of that conflict in their hearts and minds. I saw 9/11 and our subsequent response as a different matter. In terms of the conflict itself, I still do. But in retrospect, a lot of the negative response to Vietnam was from within, the politics surrounding the mission, if you will; and an overriding lack of commitment to success. I believe that to have become the case now, also.

Unfortunately, it appears that a most vocal portion of our nation is commited to peace at any cost. Had this been Dec 7th, 1941, I fear those very same people would have been willing to ignore the assault and go about their business of appeasement which politically seems to have become all too easy. And, in time I worry that will be our downfall. For when we, as a Nation, stand for everything, we will stand for nothing.