What did 9/11 have to do with the war in Iraq?
What was the link between Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden?
Why should democracy be instituted with violence?
Those are some of the questions whose answers I don’t know. What I know is that there are people out there risking their lives for it.
I don’t agree with most of the US foreign policy or intervention overseas, but I do agree with the fact that every soldier is a hero.
Out of my three brothers, two joined the US Army. One of them was deployed to Iraq in 2006. I have to say that I’m not proud of many of the things that go on over there.
I am not proud of bombings, massacres and killing of innocent people.
But I am proud of the soldiers as persons.
It takes a lot to be a soldier. It requires courage, patience, heart and soul. And that’s what most soldiers have.
Leaving everything is not easy. Many people forget that the soldiers that are deployed have faces and names.
They have families too. They are husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters.
I remember when my brother left and how, up to the day he came back, all the clocks in the house, computers and mobile phones were set for Iraq’s time.
It was a year we lived overseas too, a year when every time you heard numbers on the TV you hoped it did not relate to you.
Behind every soldier, there is a family waiting for him or her to be back home.
When my brother came back, he had to face a lot of struggles. It broke my heart the day he was telling his one-year-old daughter, “Nicole, say ‘papa’, say ‘papa’” and the little girl would just look at him clueless.
She could not understand who he was.
Some people believe that what happens overseas is the fault of the troops, but they only happen to be following orders and doing their jobs.
It is not really important to understand what the reasons were to go to war when there are lives being lost.
There are certainly some soldiers whose behavior is unacceptable and that have done terrible things.
But, the majority only wants to come back home and be with their families.
My brother always says: “Once you are there, the only thing you want is for you and the one next to you to go back home safely.”
I think that the war in Iraq is a mistake. The troops should not be there; they should come back.
Even though I completely disagree with the war, every soldier that goes to Iraq has my full support and will be in my prayers.
I know what it is like to have someone over there. Someone you love.
I definitely can identify with all those families who are missing their loved ones.
My brother went to Iraq, and he made it back safe and sound. It is not the case for the more than 4,000 soldiers that have died—in Iraq only—up to now.
Some of them die in missions. Others commit suicide.
One of my brother’s friends shot himself inside a latrine and the other soldiers had to go there and clean up the mess.
Coming back alive from Iraq is a miracle.
Every time you see a soldier, don’t think about how much you agreed with the former president or with the war in Iraq.
Just think that the person in front of you has gone through a lot. Show respect to the soldiers and be proud of the troops.
Carolina Medelin can be reached at colaya@ut.edu.