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January 15, 2004An American Soldier's FiancéeEd. Note: This is an actual email sent to the president and vice president a very apolitical female friend of mine copied to me. If anything, I’d say in my experience she leans more conservative than anything. Her fiancée is also a friend of mine and he will be deployed to Iraq in the coming weeks. It is particularly telling to me in an anecdote that an apolitical, leans conservative person would respond so strongly to the point of actually emailing the President and Vice-President. In any event, I present it to you with the only edits being to obscure a few expletives and to change her signature line. If anyone doubts the veracity of the email, I’ll be happy to prove it with the original missive. From: "KB" Subject: WHY CAN'T MY SOLDIER COME SEE ME BEFORE HE IS SENT TO FIGHT YOUR WAR?
This is some f*cked up shit! My Fiancée who is in the Army National Guard can't come see me nor me come see him before he leaves for Iraq for what is currently 16 - 18 months (that is IF you don't decide that he needs to stay in the a$$-crack of the world longer). Christmas may very well be the last time I ever see him! I can't believe this! How would both of you feel if you had seen your wife or children for the last time? I don't know what y'all know that I don't know but I do know that you have thousands of men and women who would love to see the person they love one last time and that may not happen. If my soldier pays the ultimate sacrifice, what will I get from you? Not a damn thing!!! I'll just have to know that I had a good time with him over Christmas. You know, it seems that shit has gotten deeper since we CAPTURED SADDAM than before he was captured. That does NOT make any since what so ever!!!!! My soldier is being told his deployment time has increased, gas prices have jumped. WHAT ARE Y'ALL DOING???? Apparently something wrong!!!!!!! I personally WILL NOT vote for this presidency to continue and I'm glad that I have friends who are working for the CLARK campaign! At least HE knows how the soldiers and their families feel! Not to mention this freaking Stop Loss that has been put into affect. He can't even get out after he has finished fighting in this freaking "I've got to avenge my daddy" War! He has been in since 1994 and even though he will have served 10 years by the time he gets home, due to the Stop Loss, he can't get out!!!!!!! Why don't you just pull out our soldiers and drop a few nukes over there. While you are at it, go ahead and bomb France too. KB Comments
Does not sounds very conservative at all. In fact she sounds like a moveon.org groupie. And this is the President's fault because? Sorry, but I don't see it. My son hasn't been able to get leave for over a year now, and he's not even in Iraq. And the only reason it's just been a little over a year is because he got emergency leave Christmas before last due to a death in the family. I'd like to see him too....and so would his 3 yr. old son who only knows his dad from photos. But that's military life, even when there's not a war. Posted by: Rita at January 15, 2004 03:50 PMLet me warn you right off the bat that some will consider the following to be callous. I don't mean to sound that way at all, but I am a military brat who was separated from my father many times in my childhood. That's where my comments come from. I hate to break it you and your friend, but that missive will get tossed in the kook pile. While I can understand her angst, there's no need for: 1. the profanity Remember the old adage about catching more bees with honey than vinegar? The President is a compassionate man and I'm sure that were this message to reach his desk he would read it diligently. And he might be concerned for her and for him - even to the point of possibly lifting them up to God in prayer. But he is the Commander in Chief and his responsibility is to the entire population of the United States military. Were he to respond to every distraught family member who was separated by this war, then there would be chaos in the ranks. Sadly, we can't have that. So you're friend needs to toughen up and prepare herself for her fiance's deployment - and to send him off (whether she's there in person or not) with love and support, not tears and whining. Because that won't help his morale one bit. Posted by: jen at January 15, 2004 04:19 PMHer man may also want to see her again, but like the majority of military-minded men, he's proud to be helping, serving his country. The majority of Iraqi's will be welcoming. Just read their blogs! They don't want us to leave; they want us to stay until a unified government can be established, along with the accompanying normal governmental services. We are seeing Iraqi's protesting lack of jobs and food in the south now on TV. Why would there be a lack of food? There is food aid in plenty. Lack of jobs? Create your own. Many Baghdad residents have. How much media attention did the Iraqi anti-terrorist demonstration with up to 20,000 marchers on December 10th get? Hardly any, but all the media representatives were there. It wasn't deemed newsworthy by the media which would rather tell only the negatives, still. Find the Iraqi Bloggers and read what they really feel about the U.S. military presence. I have a descriptive list and e-mail addresses of several to get you started, if you e-mail me your request. State whether you can accept a Word document attachment. I'll be happy to share with you. Posted by: Ms Anna at January 15, 2004 05:53 PMI can see why you thought we'd think this was made up. I'm going to avoid insulting her. But I don't think much of your friend. Posted by: TheYeti at January 16, 2004 10:44 AMWas it your friend who wrote that or was it something your friend came across? I'm rarely, if ever in agreement with the current Administration and I tend to write my Elected Officials fairly often and usually with passionate opinions but disrespect doesn't get anywhere. If that was truly sent to the White House I too doubt that anyone other than a secretary saw it. She would have been better off writing a reasonable letter to her House and Senate representatives. Posted by: Miss Bliss at January 16, 2004 03:09 PMBliss-- This is from the Ed. Note at the top of the post-- "This is an actual email sent to the president and vice president a very apolitical female friend of mine copied to me. If anything, I’d say in my experience she leans more conservative than anything. Her fiancée is also a friend of mine and he will be deployed to Iraq in the coming weeks. It is particularly telling to me in an anecdote that an apolitical, leans conservative person would respond so strongly to the point of actually emailing the President and Vice-President. In any event, I present it to you with the only edits being to obscure a few expletives and to change her signature line. If anyone doubts the veracity of the email, I’ll be happy to prove it with the original missive." So, yes it was from her. Posted by: Adam at January 18, 2004 09:26 AMAs a military wife I understand the aggravation that the writer feels, however, there are many things about the military that we civilians are not priviledged to know. My husband has been deployed more than he has been home for our entire marriage, in fact we had to move our wedding up 6 months because of his deployment. But that is his job. I support whatever mission he is sent on, and those in charge of him. Trust me when I say I don't always agree with the decisions they make for him, but they have earned their rank from LCpl to Commander in Chief. You have to believe they will do what is best with the information that they have. My husband lost several of his closest friends while engaged in intensive urban combat in Iraq, and was not allowed to come home to attend the funeral of his grandmother that had raised him, but that doesn't change the fact that HE chose this career. He knew the risks and the sacrifices when he signed the sheet to enlist. The only thing a military spouse can do is pray and be supportive. I personally have not made a decision on who I am voting for for President. I must say that it is between Bush and Clark. But the truth of the matter is everyone wants to see their loved one as much as possible, but when you love someone whose job is to make sure we live in a free country you make sacrifices just like they do! Posted by: Chelle at January 19, 2004 11:12 PMAnother added comment to what I had originally written: The writer of the letter needs to understand that when she does marry her soldier she in a way is joining the military. No matter how angry you get about the decisions and the on goings with his job you have to bite your tongue. A spouse can be escorted out of an office for being disrepectful to someone of higher rank. Like it or not, they will tell the solider that he needs to "control his wife". The use of profanity in the letter written to the President is the same as using profanity to an Executive Officer or Battalion Commander. In order to make your soldiers life a lot easier you should definately reword the way to communicate with a person of higher rank. I do know from personal experience that a spouse's vocality with others (even out in town or at the PX) effects her husband. It is always best to think about how things will effect your loved one before you do them. Posted by: Chelle at January 19, 2004 11:44 PMThank you, Chelle for sharing your thoughts with us. And may God bless you and your hubby. I thank God for him and his buddies. Posted by: Ms Anna at January 20, 2004 08:47 PMSorry, I disagree Most of us know the depth of the oath we swear to. These little military wife wannabees fade away as quickly as they arrive. She should be supporting his deployment, not whining to his Chief. Kick this broad to the curb. Posted by: Sherry at January 24, 2004 12:40 PMPost a comment
 
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