War came to our bucolic county North of Washington DC once again this past week when we learned that 1st Lt. Robert Seidel III had been killed in Iraq by an IED. In an attempt to make sense of this sacrifice the local papers have been running articles and even an editorial on him, all saying pretty much the same thing, as expressed by family friend V. Rippeon and mother of Lt Seidel’s friend Ensign Rippeon USN; “…I really hope they're making a difference, because they're everything to us."
I find it quite ironic that the local paper who willing assists the AP and the rest of the MSM in presenting nothing but a negative image of the war in Iraq and purposely ignores the great and noble acts taking place on a daily basis in both Iraq and Afghanistan, is now concerned that our men and women in uniform “over there” are making a difference. They constantly post the numbers of dead as if it is a game, and they are keeping some macabre score card, but it is war and for those of us who are intimately familiar with war you never forget that it is hell, people get hurt and people die, there is no other way to conduct the act of war in which this does not happen, it is not as many in America believe one big video game where at the end of the day everyone re-spawns back on the start point and they do it all again.
The simple truth is my dear editors and fellow Frednecktonians, our men and women in uniform are making a huge difference over there. This past weekend the Iraqi government was finally formalized as they selected all but two of their Cabinet Positions for the new Iraqi Government, despite an increase in violence wrought by those who seek to create chaos and instability the Iraqi’s are moving forward and as in the words of a fellow blogger Mohammed: “I do believe we have a good chance to correct our mistakes and build a modern state and although the new government isn't a perfect creature it is a positive step forward mainly because it is much widely representative of the population than the previous one. Yes, it does not meet our ambitions but also our ambitions have no limits and we must expect a lot of bumps on the road before we reach our goal.”
It has been a hard road for sure and the cost has been high, for the loss of any of our men and women in uniform is a high price to pay, but it is as I have mentioned before a cost that our sons and daughters have willing accepted. The cliché ‘Freedom isn’t Free’ is just that a cliché but it is so true and while our men and women in uniform mean “everything to us,” we have to understand that the cost we are paying now is nothing to the cost that we will have to pay if their loss is to be all for naught and we follow the advice of Mr. Murtha and the rest of the ‘cut and run’ crowd.
Lt. Robert Seidel III USA understood this; he graduated from high school in 2000 a year before 9/11 and graduated from the USMA – West Point in 2004. He knew that upon graduation from West Point as an Infantry officer he was going to see combat at some point in his career, it was inevitable. What he didn’t do though was abandon his fellow soldiers and his men in combat; he strode forward even though he knew the possible price that would have to be paid.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.
Lt. Seidel loved his fellow man and he lived the ethos of the Infantry in his actions, his death was not in vain and the only reason you are questioning it now is because the media has failed you and the American people in this war. The US and its allies are winning the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, if you don’t believe me, just ask anyone of the fellow soldiers that will be in town for Lt. Seidel’s funeral. And then ask yourself this question, if men who are at the funeral of one of their own are so positive about it, why isn’t the media and more importantly why isn’t your leadership in Congress?
UPDATE: Longtime friend, fellow soldier, sailor and now Navy Civilian wrote this in an email reply:
This is succinct and to the point. The MSM, the liberals, the politicians, the pundits, the anti-American Democrats and Republicans and every other parasite that lives off of the blood and treasure of our patriots will never admit it. To admit it is to look deeply into the mirror and see the cowards that they are. They will find every excuse and do anything in their power to keep from looking at the coward in the mirror.
Since men have banded together to fight, the main reason they did it was for each other. 1LT Siedel will be the "missing man" in the formation at his graveside. If he could speak words that we could hear, do you think he would beg the MSM and the other parasites to validate his cause? I'm sure he would save his breath for those comrades who bid him farewell.
When 241 of my shipmates died in Beirut after I returned to "the world," it never occurred to me that their death needed validation by the peckerheads that benefit from their sacrifice. I knew then that it was up to me to keep their memory and ever forget. Because I'm one of them, a sheepdog, not a sheep. You're a sheepdog too! Its up to us to keep the faith. To never forget.
Cliches are cliches. That doesn't mean that they aren't true, or don't apply. It means that a sound bite can be used to describe it, and it has been described over and over again. Freedom isn't free. The only reason it is a cliche is because that it is true.
SPARTAN SOLDIER
It is beautiful when a brave man of the front ranks falls and dies, battling for his homeland,and ghastly when a man flees planted fields and city and wanders begging with his dear mother,aging father, little children and true wife.
He will be scorned in every new village, reduced to want and loathsome poverty; and shamewill brand his family line, his noble figure. Derision and disaster will hound him.
A turncoat gets no respect or pity; so let us battle for our country and freely give our lives to save our darling children. Young men, fight shield to shield and never succumb to panic or miserable flight,but steel the heart in your chests with magnificence and courage.
Forget your own life when you grapple with the enemy. Never run and let an old soldier collapsewhose legs have lost their power. It is shocking when an old man lies on the front line before a youth: an old warrior whose head is white and beard gray, exhaling his strong soul into the dust, clutching his bloody genitals in his hands: an
abominable vision, foul to see: his flesh naked.
But in a young man all is beautiful when he still possesses the shining flower of lovely youth. Alive he is adored by men, desired by women, and finest to look upon when he falls dead in the forward clash. Let each man spread his legs, rooting them in the ground, bite his teeth into his lips, and hold.
Open Posted at Mudville Gazette
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