God bless you DJ!
You hit the nail on the head. I'm sane, Becky's sane, so is Traci. We can't rationalize the irrational. My lack of military service leaves me even less unable to understand than Traci; but she was fortunate...there was no major conflict between 84' and 87'; and if there had been, as a female soldier, she wouldn't have been anywhere the front--not at that time.
I know a great deal of what you mentioned about Southeast Asia from a cousin that was there, and a former security officer I knew named Frank Plummer from Marietta, Georgia. I've heard their stories, of ambushes, and seeing toddlers booby trapped with grenades.
I know the cost of the air war too DJ. The best park in the city of Douglasville is a memorial to a brave young pilot named Gerald Robert Hunter. He lost his life while serving his nation in 1966 over SEASIA. A good young man from everyone I hear speak of him.
Hunter Park isn't just picnics and throwing bread to ducks in the lake and occasional Canadian geese; not just BBQ on the 4th and little league baseball games. There's also a very sacred site on the north side of the parkway...a memorial, not just in concrete and bars, but inside the memorial sits a restored "Thunderchief". I'm sure you know more than I DJ; but I believe it's a F-105 Thunderchief. It was the same type aircraft that brave young pilot lost his life in.
To me it's a place of honor...a revered spot I go and feel so humbled that he gave his life so I'm free to enjoy those carefree picnics and BBQ's while I've done nothing. Nothing for my country...except enjoy the freedom it offers, and thank God almighty every single day for men of honor such as Gerald, men of honor such as my uncle that like, Pfc Jessica Lynch...went to war a gentle soul from Appalachia, and returned a broken shell that was never the same again.
What I fear so much for the brave little lady from Palestine, is the worst wounds of my uncle, the wounds that never healed were the ones in his mind.
DJ, my problem with Jessica, is I cannot look upon her as a warrior as Lt Hunter and my uncle were, a hero like they were, my dad was, and you are. It's not her gender either DJ...because I look at Lori Piestewa and Shoshona Johnson as soldiers, as brave heroes
I honor and grieve over just as I do long lost Lt Robert Hunter; as I do the brave young Warrant Officer POW from my hometown named Ron.
Here's the reason why DJ..my honest and only reason why. When I look at that picture on my website, the picture of a beautiful seventeen year old girl sitting so peacefully under a huge oak, a gentle smile on her face says everything that is good about America, wholesome..caring.
When I look at Pfc Jessica Lynch, I don't see a soldier or a warrior. I see my own sweet little eight year old niece Madison who has me wrapped around her finger and knows it. I see my own little sister Becky, who looks so much like Jessi at 17 when she was 16 it
spooks me, and everything I learn...from Jessi's friends, her teachers, her mom's friend is that Becky and Jessi are closer personality wise today than they both looked at 17. When I look at Jessi, I see Becky and Maddie...and every time I do, I sob
I made the site in honor of Jessi, but as a girl becoming a young woman. A young woman I feel toward as another little sis, another sweetheart little niece to steal my heart. I created that site to make her pain go away...the song is God Bless the USA, but it's such a sweet song, so soft...it just fits the beautiful teenage girl on that picture.
I know this sounds insane DJ, but honest to God...I'd give my life right now -- I'd die tonight if it would make Jessi Lynch like she was before those monsters hurt her so; without a seconds hesitation. I've lived my 41 years in relative comfort DJ...not wealthy, but I've never gotten hungry.
I've seen the beauty of Oregon, the splendor of a Florida beach at dawn. I've known love...even though I've never married, I know what it feels like to love someone...to know there's a special girl that drives me wild..so much I'd call her long distance just to hear that smooth southern accent that was so soft, so kind. I want Jessica Lynch to walk again, be happy again, see that pretty gentle smile again. I want her to live that dream of teaching little children. I want Jessi to marry her knight in shining armor, know the feeling only a mother can know when holding a precious newborn baby in her arms. My sister knows that feeling....I hope and pray someday Jessi Lynch does also.
My Maddie will never, ever go into harms way...she will not join the army if I have to work three jobs to put her through college. It's nothing against the military....but she's MY baby, my little angel; just knowing what has happened to Jessica Lynch has broken my heart. It hurts so bad, because I feel as if she's my own sister. I can't sleep...why I'm sitting here at 5 am on a Sunday morning.
If it's that difficult on me because of a girl I don't even know--that I feel as if is a little sister or niece.....I know in my heart if it happened to Madison, it would kill me DJ. I couldn't withstand seeing my baby broken like that, knowing how they tortured her; there's no way I could endure the pain
