Thirteen years of forgotten sacrifice

One thing I neglected to explain in my previous post on writing about the war was the most pressing matter that makes me want to tell the story. I feel that we are losing touch with the sacrifices made by a small subset of the men and women of our country to protect the rest of us. In previous periods of conflict, it was nearly impossible to escape pervasive news about war. This War on Terror has been different. We have ever-expanding access to information, yet we are not forced to see and comprehend the reality of what is happening (or what has happened) on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.  But I'm not saying this right, so I'll leave it to a few heroes who have said it well.

The following is an excerpt from an article about a Veterans Day address given in 2010 by Marine Lt. Gen. Robert Kelly. Lt. Gen. Kelly had lost his son, Marine Lt. Robert Kelly, to an IED attack in Sangin four days prior to giving his speech. He was, understandably, filled with sadness at having lost his son, and used the platform to address a nation he felt lacked empathy and understanding for the ongoing conflict. I'll let the article excerpt tell the rest of the story.

"We are in a life - and - death struggle, but not our whole country," [Kelly] told the crowd. "One percent of Americans are touched by this war. Then there is a much smaller club of families who have given all."

He spoke of the anger that some combat veterans feel toward the war's opponents. "They hold in disdain those who claim to support them but not the cause that takes their innocence, their limbs and even their lives," he said.

Later, he clarified in an interview that he is opposed to indifference, not dissent. "I just think if you are against the war, you should somehow try to change it," he said. "Fight to bring us home."

Kelly's concerns have been echoed of late by generals, lawmakers and top Pentagon civilians. "I worry that we could wake up one day and that the American people will no longer know us, and we won't know them" Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in January.

Former congressman Ike Skelton (D - Mo.) recently lamented to Foreign Policy magazine that "those who protect us are psychologically divorced from those who are being protected."


Check out the rest of the article here. It's lengthy, but worthwhile.