They still hold their breath every time a door bell buzzes or a phone rings. Their nights are still sleepless with worry and thinking the worst. They hate seeing government looking cars going down their street. It's seven long years since shock and awe started. Nine since the Taliban were first defeated.
Young men and women still go time after time to the senseless wars our nation's leaders can't seem to avoid or don't want to avoid. The ultra rich and fat cats seldom think of them. The average American hardly remembers them. The mainstream media seldom mentions them. What are they doing there, again?
A few years back I wrote a piece about parents waiting for them. I asked the readers to imagine staying up late at night wondering where your child is at that very moment in Afghanistan or Iraq. Are they one of those Marines going through the hell of a Fallujah or a Marjah? Are they pinned down at some remote outpost near the mountains of Afghanistan?
Imagine a parent wondering why their child has been asked to go three, four, five times to the two wars no one at home seems to remember. Imagine a son or daughter who has seen their parent only 24 months of the last 60 months. The parent missed all their recitals, school plays, basketball games, first proms, field days and birthdays while they were gone to a war.
Imagine a young wife left behind by her husband 3 months after their marriage. Living on base is impossible to think about. A constant reminder of where he is. Going back to mom and dad's place seems like one step back. Living with his parents is out of the question. So a dingy studio apartment in a rough part of town seems the alternative. Skyping and emails hardly makes up for the lost intimacy. Minimum wage jobs hardly helps pay the bills even with his private's pay.
Imagine a reservist who has already lost his heating company because he could no longer be in the country to run the jobs. He could no longer bid jobs and expect to get them because his contractors knew he was likely to leave again for one of the wars. They support the war and all but they have to make money. Too bad the reservist got the wrong end of the stick. Who knew he'd end up going back three more times. Too bad his wife faces foreclosure with him out of country at war. Someone should do something.
Imagine the poor lost kid who barely made it through high school because of his ADD. His mom insists he stay on medications but the recruiter says he can enlist if he stops them and signs a waiver. The military doesn't care about the ADD as long as the kid can learn to be a grunt infantryman. Imagine the kid off meds in the middle of a firefight. He gets shot but it hits him in his Kevlar. The guy who befriended him isn't so lucky. He takes a round in the head and bleeds out in front of the kid. The kid makes it through the firefight but the images haunt him. His ADD kicks in big time with impulsive behaviors and disorganized thoughts being in the forefront. He tells his 1st Sgt. to "f' off. He drinks excessively. Misses formations. Fights with his squad leader. They put him on report. He's restricted and spends his time obsessing about the firefight. He sinks into depression and thinks about "offing" himself. He thinks about killing that "top". They put him on suicide watch and place him in a closet with a fire hose and fire axe next to the quarters of the First Sgt.. Smart.
Imagine the parents of the young Marine who came back and fell into the abyss of alcoholism. They keep taking him to the VA but the VA keeps kicking him back out on the streets to return to his torment and his booze. They say he has to be sober before they can provide services. The stupid cycle repeats itself over and over as the frantic family sees their son spiral toward the drain. On one evening the young Marine wants to sit on his father's lap and be held as he was held as a child. A young combat Marine wanted this. The next day the family finds their son hanging in their basement. He will always be known as a suicide but his parents know he was a casualty of the war. He died of the neglect we have allowed ourselves to have toward the returning troops.
Imagine a parent sitting up late at night going through family photos to take to the memorial service of their dead son or daughter. Imagine the young wife devastated by the suddenly abusive husband returning from the war. Imagine the young woman returning home after doing her tour of duty in Iraq surviving the IEDs and firefights but not the rapist who was a member of her combat unit.
Imagine seeing the blood of an infant drained from the body at the site of the exploding cluster bomb. Imagine seeing the sniper round hit your best friend in your combat unit. Imagine his brain matter splashed across your face. Imagine coming to the aid of one of your men whose leg is lying in a horrifying pool of blood across the road. Imagine the arterial blood pumping from the stump of the quickly dying man who screams from the fear and excruciating pain.
Parents sit up late at night wondering if they will see their chld again. Wives get up each morning fearing their husbands next rage attack. Children go to school unable to talk about their mom who has been gone for a year in a place they know nothing about.
Parents and wives, husbands and daughters, sons and brothers, sisters and friends all wonder about their loved ones but feel angry no one else seems to remember them. Imagine that their loved one survives the combat but ends up addicted, incarcerated or dead at the hands of a cop after waiting six months without an appointment with a VA psychiatrist. Imagine a mom being told her son died from " friendly fire" but later is told her son committed suicide. When she questions how he could have shot himself in the temple with a rifle the story changes to "unknown" cause of death. Imagine being awarded a bronze star and purple heart and finding yourself lined up at a local homeless shelter only six months after discharge.
We no longer need to imagine these things. They've all happened along with countless other tragic and detestable stories Defenders of the "holy wars" of Christianity against the "godless" Muslims will likely say "things happen" but most of the troops are treated well. For the families and friends of the victims of these wars, all they know is the hellish truth of what happened to their loved ones. Only thing is.....no one wants to hear them.
Wm Terry Leichner, RN
USMC combat vet - RVN '67-'69
Monday, March 15
Saturday, March 6
The Rotten Core of The Catholic Church
Once again Archbishop Charles Chaput of the Denver Roman Catholic Archdiocese has demonstrated his pettiness and lack of true Christian faith. In the latest of many hateful acts by this archbishop, a young preschooler at Boulder's Sacred Heart of Jesus will not be allowed to return to the center because their parents are gay women.
Yep, kids with gay parents aren't allowed in Catholic day care because their parents are living a lifestyle contrary to the dogma of the Church. This is the same Church that concealed predatory, child molesting priests for decades rather than dismiss them and comfort the child and the family of the child. This is the same Church that cries out against the intrinisic evil of abortion but still fails to object to the intrinisic evil of the wars George W. Bush started for the evil reason of American empire and greed.
Chaput should particularly be singled out as he has consistently gone along with the hateful anti-gay and pro-war crowd of politicians. I've previously mentioned his participation in Presidential prayer breakfasts with Dubya. There's a telling photo of Bush and Chaput together smiling and laughing with Chaput touching the leg of Bush. There's the attempts by Chaput to influence Catholic voters against candidates opposing Bush because of their political stand concerning abortion and gay marriages. Chaput joined the growing number of evangelical right wing Catholic leaders in suggesting communion should be denied any politician or follower who didn't agree with the Church dogma concerning gays and abortion. These leaders had much in common with the war mongering evangelical Protestants such as the Focus On The Family group in Colorado Springs led by James Dobson. Chaput seemed to always overlook the mean spirited policies of the Bush-Cheney administration that gutted social programs and programs meant to help the weakest and most at risk, however.
Chaput wrote he opposed war but sometimes there were "justifiable wars". Apparently his failure to lash out against the wars as strongly as he has against gays and abortion suggests he considers wars for oil and empire fall into the justifiable column.
What's incongruent with Chaput and the Roman Catholic Church being so loudly vocal about abortion and the intrinsic evil of abortion is they fail to recognize the number of innocent children from age one day to adolescence killed by American bombs, rifles, rockets and mortars. They fail to recognize the number of children living well below the poverty level in starvation throughout the world, including here in America. They fail to recognize children dying in gang wars, children dying from addiction and abuse.
The answer for the Catholic Church is not allowing a woman any form of birth control and then calling her a killer should she decide an abortion is necessary to prevent her other children from starving. The woman is a killer if she doesn't want to carry the child of her rapist. She's a killer if she has an abusive husband who has raped her other children. She's a killer if giving birth will cause her family to fall further into poverty.
The Church talks a great story about how they will provide for unwanted children but the astronomical number of orphans and unwanted children throughout the world are testimony to the abject failure of promises by the church.
I've sat through many a homily directed by Chaput and the Church's leadership in Denver bashing gays and women who have had abortions. The original Church of Jesus Christ has forgotten the very tenets of their Savior. They have failed in Christian charity and understanding. They have failed to live up to the beatitudes of Christ.
What purpose does barring a young child from being with other children they have come to know accomplish for the Church? What message does the hateful ban against gay parents give to us? One message is the Church doesn't want gay parents adopting children. This flies in the face of the Church telling women they should preserve life by carrying their child throughout the pregnancy and if need be, put the child up for adoption. Another message to the child barred from a Catholic day care is somehow the child is "bad" and the child's parents are bad. How Christian is that?
But what do we expect from this Church so full of misogyny and hatefulness led by men only? What can we expect from a Church that has such a bloody and evil history toward women? What should we expect from a Church more worried about image problems than children molested by priests? What should we expect from a Church that had priests encouraging young men enlist to fight the Godless communists in Vietnam as they did with my friends back in the 60's and 70's?
What should we expect of Charles Chaput who told a woman heading a priest abuse panel of victims to shut up and allow the Catholic Bishops Conference to decide the course of victim reparations? The same Charles Chaput who aligns himself with fanatics and intolerance of the right wing evangelical movement that has led this nation to illegal wars and the financial ruin we now face.
This latest action by Chaput and the Denver Archdiocese is symptomatic of the disease of hate that has rotted the core of the Catholic religion. Chaput and the Church may defend themselves by citing Christ as an opponent of gay marriage and abortion but there is no such evidence Christ believed any of this hateful dogma. The Church may rail against gay marriage being a threat to the traditional marriage but their logic is failed logic that assumes men and women can be "converted" to being gay rather than accepting there are men and women born with a genetic code causing them to love persons of the same sex. And let us keep in mind the Church objects to loving couples because they happen to be same sex but fails to take a moral stance against the illegal wars our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters are sent to die in. What moral sense does it make that a relgion hates a couple in love but endorses a war?
The Church is really big on talking about the culture of death when it comes to abortion but what about the culture of violence and hate that is so historically associated with the Catholic and Christian religions? Did Christ really want what has occurred to be done in His name?
I have long believed in Jesus Christ but I just don't know the Christ of the Catholic Church. I converted to Catholicism many years ago but came to realize the Church leadership has infected the Catholic religion with hate. This latest action by the Church only confirms what I've sadly come to realize, the Church has a rotten core.
Wm. T. Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW
Yep, kids with gay parents aren't allowed in Catholic day care because their parents are living a lifestyle contrary to the dogma of the Church. This is the same Church that concealed predatory, child molesting priests for decades rather than dismiss them and comfort the child and the family of the child. This is the same Church that cries out against the intrinisic evil of abortion but still fails to object to the intrinisic evil of the wars George W. Bush started for the evil reason of American empire and greed.
Chaput should particularly be singled out as he has consistently gone along with the hateful anti-gay and pro-war crowd of politicians. I've previously mentioned his participation in Presidential prayer breakfasts with Dubya. There's a telling photo of Bush and Chaput together smiling and laughing with Chaput touching the leg of Bush. There's the attempts by Chaput to influence Catholic voters against candidates opposing Bush because of their political stand concerning abortion and gay marriages. Chaput joined the growing number of evangelical right wing Catholic leaders in suggesting communion should be denied any politician or follower who didn't agree with the Church dogma concerning gays and abortion. These leaders had much in common with the war mongering evangelical Protestants such as the Focus On The Family group in Colorado Springs led by James Dobson. Chaput seemed to always overlook the mean spirited policies of the Bush-Cheney administration that gutted social programs and programs meant to help the weakest and most at risk, however.
Chaput wrote he opposed war but sometimes there were "justifiable wars". Apparently his failure to lash out against the wars as strongly as he has against gays and abortion suggests he considers wars for oil and empire fall into the justifiable column.
What's incongruent with Chaput and the Roman Catholic Church being so loudly vocal about abortion and the intrinsic evil of abortion is they fail to recognize the number of innocent children from age one day to adolescence killed by American bombs, rifles, rockets and mortars. They fail to recognize the number of children living well below the poverty level in starvation throughout the world, including here in America. They fail to recognize children dying in gang wars, children dying from addiction and abuse.
The answer for the Catholic Church is not allowing a woman any form of birth control and then calling her a killer should she decide an abortion is necessary to prevent her other children from starving. The woman is a killer if she doesn't want to carry the child of her rapist. She's a killer if she has an abusive husband who has raped her other children. She's a killer if giving birth will cause her family to fall further into poverty.
The Church talks a great story about how they will provide for unwanted children but the astronomical number of orphans and unwanted children throughout the world are testimony to the abject failure of promises by the church.
I've sat through many a homily directed by Chaput and the Church's leadership in Denver bashing gays and women who have had abortions. The original Church of Jesus Christ has forgotten the very tenets of their Savior. They have failed in Christian charity and understanding. They have failed to live up to the beatitudes of Christ.
What purpose does barring a young child from being with other children they have come to know accomplish for the Church? What message does the hateful ban against gay parents give to us? One message is the Church doesn't want gay parents adopting children. This flies in the face of the Church telling women they should preserve life by carrying their child throughout the pregnancy and if need be, put the child up for adoption. Another message to the child barred from a Catholic day care is somehow the child is "bad" and the child's parents are bad. How Christian is that?
But what do we expect from this Church so full of misogyny and hatefulness led by men only? What can we expect from a Church that has such a bloody and evil history toward women? What should we expect from a Church more worried about image problems than children molested by priests? What should we expect from a Church that had priests encouraging young men enlist to fight the Godless communists in Vietnam as they did with my friends back in the 60's and 70's?
What should we expect of Charles Chaput who told a woman heading a priest abuse panel of victims to shut up and allow the Catholic Bishops Conference to decide the course of victim reparations? The same Charles Chaput who aligns himself with fanatics and intolerance of the right wing evangelical movement that has led this nation to illegal wars and the financial ruin we now face.
This latest action by Chaput and the Denver Archdiocese is symptomatic of the disease of hate that has rotted the core of the Catholic religion. Chaput and the Church may defend themselves by citing Christ as an opponent of gay marriage and abortion but there is no such evidence Christ believed any of this hateful dogma. The Church may rail against gay marriage being a threat to the traditional marriage but their logic is failed logic that assumes men and women can be "converted" to being gay rather than accepting there are men and women born with a genetic code causing them to love persons of the same sex. And let us keep in mind the Church objects to loving couples because they happen to be same sex but fails to take a moral stance against the illegal wars our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters are sent to die in. What moral sense does it make that a relgion hates a couple in love but endorses a war?
The Church is really big on talking about the culture of death when it comes to abortion but what about the culture of violence and hate that is so historically associated with the Catholic and Christian religions? Did Christ really want what has occurred to be done in His name?
I have long believed in Jesus Christ but I just don't know the Christ of the Catholic Church. I converted to Catholicism many years ago but came to realize the Church leadership has infected the Catholic religion with hate. This latest action by the Church only confirms what I've sadly come to realize, the Church has a rotten core.
Wm. T. Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW
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