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Once in a while, but not often enough, we bring our viewers Face to Face with the courageous men and women of the military. Like many, we've grown weary of the war during the last five years, but we never tire of, nor can we keep a dry eye while hearing stories of the sacrifice and selflessness of those who put themselves in harm's way.
State Sen. Joe Heck, who just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq as an Army doctor, talks on tonight's program about losing his first battle casualty, a 20-year-old Marine. I have often wondered how many young people in the military question why they are fighting in Iraq, even as they put their lives on the line. Surprisingly, Heck says he heard very little second-guessing from the enlisted.
Tomorrow - Americans are losing their homes, gas is nearing $4 a gallon and food prices are skyrocketing. Is the Democratic-controlled Congress sitting on its hands?
Or is it stymied by the White House? Jon asks U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) about that, his book, the presidential contest and more via satellite from Washington, D.C.
The military put their lives on the line, war after war, regardless of the politics - because it is their duty - it's first and foremost about a deep sense of DUTY! Few civilians understand the depth of how this is defined in the heat and horror of hellish combat!
Why, even when wounded, do they want to go back? Because of DUTY - it has nothing to do with the politics! They want to go back because they know their unit has one less soldier and there is no greater love than to fight for the survival of your buddy on your left flank and your buddy on your right flank - and the soldier in front of you and behind you - it is all about DUTY!
The Military & Veterans community understands this is hard for civilians to understand, so liken it to how a parent would feel when their child is threatened - than multiply it ten-fold!
The media does all of us a terrible dis-service by not understanding this primordial point and not letting the political spinners turn it into some sort of pro-Bush policy, pro-war view!
Even implying that our troops support war, especially an unnecessary, immoral, unethical, illegal and Unjust War like Iraq, is the worst form of a lie - no soldier wants more war! That's why you don't see soldiers volunteering individually to go back - they'll go anywhere, anytime to perform any mission we ask of them as a unit, but, stop confusing that pure sense of patriotism with politics!
They just want to complete their mission and ALL come home together - and our military has completed their mission!
It is so dispicable and dishonorable for these radical, right-wing, neo-con, nut-case groups, like Sheldon Adelson's Freedom Watch to take the sacrifice of our soldiers out of context and twist it - and, then, to take a greiving family members words out of context to perpetuate war!
God bless our troops - all of them - including Senator / Colonel / Doctor Heck who saved lives, but, let's get real - he had the luxury of only having to serve 90 days in a secure green zone! Why isn't he volunteering to go back? Because he's an Army Reserve type that has only committed to rotating in, and quickly back out, and he's got one of the sweetest contracts the Army ever offered - but, let's not confuse him with soldiers that have gone through tough training together, slept, eaten, worked, sweated, laughed, bled, cried and died together!
I doubt anyone would have shared their intimate thoughts or personal politics with a full bird Colonel - like most of civilan society, soldiers do not discuss politics or religion on the job - and I doubt any Republican can even be objective and honest about Iraq anymore!
Like Porter, Heck insists it's all about the Iraqi people establishing a democracy - and that has been the biggest lie all along - it's an Islamic Muslim Nation that does not want any form of a democracy!
We must stop prostituting our patriots!