open letter from the wife of a soldier who lost his leg in Iraq

[nostamj]

Oct. 13, 2004 | Dear President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld,

<snip>

Secretary Rumsfeld, my husband and I met you at Walter Reed. You asked my husband only three questions and asked none of me. It wasn't even a conversation. You wanted to know how David got hurt, whether anyone else was hurt with him, and whether his unit got the guys that did it. You did not ask if David needed anything or if there was anything that you could do to help. Both Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense, and Anthony J. Principi, the secretary of veterans affairs, gave David their cards and instructed him to call if there was anything he needed and was not getting. But you were simply speechless. You were in a hurry. It seemed like you almost didn't care. It seemed like you only wanted to know whether the military forces were being efficient.

My husband David is a very friendly person and a very good speaker. Even if he felt any kind of hard feeling toward you then, Secretary Rumsfeld, he didn't show it. But it was a very off-putting encounter, and I know he was somewhat out of sorts about it. Everyone else he's talked to about what happened to him has asked all sorts of follow-up questions because it was remarkable that he didn't die. They gave him 13 pints of blood between when he got hurt and when he was evacuated to the field hospital -- that's an incredible amount of blood to lose in 40 minutes.

I'm not sure the American public understands that our soldiers are being maimed over there. People hear about our soldiers being wounded, but they're being maimed: They've lost an eye or an arm or a leg. David and I couldn't feel sorry for ourselves over David's injury -- because the guy in the room next to him in the ICU had lost both legs and arms and was permanently blinded.

Under the military way of life and thought, a commander is responsible for errors that occur under his command whether he knew about them or not. Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush, you are responsible for the inaccurate intelligence assessments, inadequate troop strength, Iraqi prisoner abuses, inadequate logistical support for U.S. forces, and fraudulent contracting billing for the Iraq reconstruction. And you should care about every combat death or injury that occurs.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/10/13/open_letter/index.html

[tabasco]

1. This is why we must continue to fight this corrupt regime.

We must end the needless death and destruction. The corrupt administration launched the Iraq war for no good reasons. The Iraq war is because of war profiteering and insane plans for global domination. No good reasons. No good reason why this soldier lost his leg. No good reason why innocent Iraqis are suffering the same fate as our soldiers. One more war memorial to walk out of crying "WHY?!?"

[skylarmae]

2. How does one exist without site, arms and legs? My God,

I am stunned. Maybe we all ought to make a trip to Walter Reed.
I just can't imagine how this poor soul will get thru all these injuries. How many of these totally helpless forever men and women
are there? Now I can't stop crying! This one opened the floodgates
on me.

[nostamj]

3. have you ever read Dalton Trumbo's

JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN?

it is written from the POV of just such a soldier.

easily one of the powerful and disturbing books I've EVER read.

on edit (the book was written in 1939 and was taken off the shelves during WWII):

This anti-war novel is written from the point of view of an injured World War I infantryman (Joe Bonham). As the plot progresses we realize how severe the injuries are (most of his face has been blown away and eventually his arms and legs must be amputated--leaving a faceless torso) and why the story is being told by an interior monologue voice.

Interspersed with recollections of Joe Bonham's life is a description of his amazing struggle to remain human. Joe's quest begins with a search for "time," and once time has been found, he begins to "organize" his world. After many years of struggle to orient himself, he tries to reach out to others by "communicating" with them. Unfortunately, his initial attempts to move his head in Morse Code are initially misconstrued as seizures, for which he receives sedatives. Eventually, a nurse new to his care realizes what he is trying to do and informs his doctors.

What Joe wants most is to let the world know about the horrors of war. He assures his keepers that he could support himself in this venture if only they would let him out (people would be glad to pay to see a "freak" such as himself). The answer he receives in return, one which had to be "literally" pounded into his forehead: "What you ask is against regulations."

[tabasco]

4. And the republicans wore Purple Heart band-aids.

The fools supporting this corrupt regime do not give a shit about the troops.