Saturday, July 05, 2003
Angry war spouses speak out
On this Fourth of July, we celebrate our independence. We pay tribute to those who protect our freedoms and are willing to lay their lives down for us, our servicemen and women. For many of those who now serve in Iraq, their once altruistic mission has become a frustrating and perilous task, and patience is running thinner and thinner by an unexpected group, the soldier's spouses and their families.
The soldiers patrolling the ever dangerous cities and villages in Iraq are obviously in a high stress situation; President Bush has now boosted the stress their wives and loved ones are feeling.
War causes stress for all concerned, however the stress being felt by the spouses left at home has been aggravated by George' Bush's celebrated aircraft carrier landing on May 1.
The televised images of President Bush in a Navy S-3B Viking jet landing onto the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, were intended to strike a note of triumph in the country, as he strode around the deck in his fighter pilot outfit. In a speech from the deck, Bush declared an end to major combat operations. Many people, including military families had the impression, that the war had come to a conclusive end. Those impressions were shattered by the loss of loved ones in the unsettled aftermath in Iraq.
The administration's apparent rush to begin his presidential campaign for 2004, left the impression that our soldiers would soon start be coming home and many of the servicemen's spouses counted on it. The president's speech made it apparent to all that we should put this particular conflict behind us. Saddam has been deposed, it did not matter if we find WMD's or Saddam himself. The Iraqi people have been freed, mission accomplished, its over. The only thing left is mop up work and setting up a democracy.
As we have noticed on the news, the war is hardly over, it has just morphed into "hit and run" fighting by the Iraqis. Our soldiers are being killed on a regular basis, with many more being wounded.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of ground forces in Iraq said an average of 13 attacks have been launched each day against occupation forces during the past 45 days, totaling roughly 585. In addition to the use of increasingly sophisticated explosive devices, Sanchez said, "we believe there may be regional cooperation of subversives," including Iraqis loyal to Hussein, Islamic radicals and common criminals.
Clearly, it doesn't take a "major combat operation" to claim a soldier's life. Call the killers, Baathist party members, Republican Guard, released criminals, Fedayeen, disgruntled Iraqi policemen, Islamic fighters from other countries, Saddam loyalists, or whatever. Our soldiers are being killed at a daily rate and the soldier's spouses are asking why.
Call the action, guerrilla warfare, coordinated attacks or uncoordinated attacks; it does not matter to the spouses. Our servicemen are being picked off like ducks in a shooting gallery and that point is being painfully felt by their families.
Luisa Leija's husband, a young artillery captain in Iraq commands part of an artillery unit, 3-16 Bravo, also known as the Bulldogs. Like many of the soldier's wives, she has visions of a military champlain showing up at the door any day now. She was recently thrown in a panic when her 9-year-old daughter told her, a soldier dressed in full camouflage was on the doorstep. She quickly went into a panic at the sight of the soldier at her door. She calmed down when the soldier explained that he lived in the neighborhood and he had locked himself out of his house. Her panic soon subsided, but the weariness and the anger settled back in. She is angry that her husband, Capt. Frank Leija, and the rest of the Bulldogs have not come home yet, even though President Bush declared that "major combat operations in Iraq had ended. "I want my husband home," "I am so on edge. When they first left, I thought yeah, this will be bad, but war is what they trained for. But they are not fighting a war. They are not doing what they trained for. They have become police in a place they're not welcome."
Fort Hood received their orders to go to Iraq and 20,000 soldiers left the base earlier in the year. The neighborhood is now almost empty, pale yellow ribbons flutter from the trees, and the base has become a drab dreary, depressing and lonely place for the spouses and other loved ones who remained behind.
The ugly mood at Fort Hood is not unique. It exists at all the military bases.
Eight soldiers with Fort Carson ties have been killed since May 1, and many families at Fort Carson, are suffering from anxiety, depression and fear.
Menzer Bobonis, who is married to 42-year-old Sgt. Maj. Sigfrido Bobonis, is attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson.
Bobonis works at Fort Carson's Regional Training Support Center, where she sees plenty of soldiers and their spouses on a daily basis. She hears their fears. "They try not to listen to rumors or listen to the news," Bobonis said. "But there's still a lot of gossip going around about the dangers (in Iraq)." "We try to control that."
Frustrations became so bad recently at Fort Stewart, Ga., that a colonel, had to be escorted from a meeting with 800 seething spouses. "They were crying, cussing, yelling and screaming for their men to come back," said Lucia Braxton, director of community services at Fort Stewart.
Long deployment has led to dozens of delayed engagements, family financial problems, missed births and broken marriages. "Guys who had a rocky marriage before, it's worse now," says Staff Sgt. Gordon Baker, 26, of Tannersville, Pa. That may be why many soldiers beg international aid workers and journalists to use their satellite phones. Some vent their frustrations to the folks at home. Others reassure relatives they'll be home soon. Non-the-less, most families are especially grateful for the scratchy phone calls and the brief e-mails they receive.
The Red Cross has also been utilized to help everyone involved, with the stresses of deployment overseas. The Red Cross is charged with the responsibility of delivering emergency messages to those troops. And with more deployments, and longer ones at that, this task is becoming overwhelming for the local chapter.
Before the war in Afghanistan, the office received 15 to 20 emergency messages a month. When the troops were deployed, in late 2001, the monthly messages doubled, said Cecil Stout, disaster management director.
When Operation Iraqi Freedom was in full swing, the calls came to about 60 per month. But as of last month, the calls skyrocketed to nearly 200.
"Our office is just not designed to take that amount of calls," said Stout, who spent 25 years in the Marine Corps.
The photo op that the Bush team came up involving the carrier landing, overstated the war's end, just like they apparently overstated our reasons for going to war to begin with. This fact is not being lost on the spouses of the servicemen and women in Iraq.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of anger, weariness, depression and frustration in military homes throughout the country, which could have been alleviated somewhat by a truly compassionate, leader.
Sources Cited:
Molly Moore and Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post Foreign Service
Charlie Brennan Rocky Mountain News
Jeffrey Getttleman New York Times
Chantal Escoto The Leaf-Chronicle
Greg Williamson The Leaf-Chronicle
The soldiers patrolling the ever dangerous cities and villages in Iraq are obviously in a high stress situation; President Bush has now boosted the stress their wives and loved ones are feeling.
War causes stress for all concerned, however the stress being felt by the spouses left at home has been aggravated by George' Bush's celebrated aircraft carrier landing on May 1.
The televised images of President Bush in a Navy S-3B Viking jet landing onto the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, were intended to strike a note of triumph in the country, as he strode around the deck in his fighter pilot outfit. In a speech from the deck, Bush declared an end to major combat operations. Many people, including military families had the impression, that the war had come to a conclusive end. Those impressions were shattered by the loss of loved ones in the unsettled aftermath in Iraq.
The administration's apparent rush to begin his presidential campaign for 2004, left the impression that our soldiers would soon start be coming home and many of the servicemen's spouses counted on it. The president's speech made it apparent to all that we should put this particular conflict behind us. Saddam has been deposed, it did not matter if we find WMD's or Saddam himself. The Iraqi people have been freed, mission accomplished, its over. The only thing left is mop up work and setting up a democracy.
As we have noticed on the news, the war is hardly over, it has just morphed into "hit and run" fighting by the Iraqis. Our soldiers are being killed on a regular basis, with many more being wounded.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of ground forces in Iraq said an average of 13 attacks have been launched each day against occupation forces during the past 45 days, totaling roughly 585. In addition to the use of increasingly sophisticated explosive devices, Sanchez said, "we believe there may be regional cooperation of subversives," including Iraqis loyal to Hussein, Islamic radicals and common criminals.
Clearly, it doesn't take a "major combat operation" to claim a soldier's life. Call the killers, Baathist party members, Republican Guard, released criminals, Fedayeen, disgruntled Iraqi policemen, Islamic fighters from other countries, Saddam loyalists, or whatever. Our soldiers are being killed at a daily rate and the soldier's spouses are asking why.
Call the action, guerrilla warfare, coordinated attacks or uncoordinated attacks; it does not matter to the spouses. Our servicemen are being picked off like ducks in a shooting gallery and that point is being painfully felt by their families.
Luisa Leija's husband, a young artillery captain in Iraq commands part of an artillery unit, 3-16 Bravo, also known as the Bulldogs. Like many of the soldier's wives, she has visions of a military champlain showing up at the door any day now. She was recently thrown in a panic when her 9-year-old daughter told her, a soldier dressed in full camouflage was on the doorstep. She quickly went into a panic at the sight of the soldier at her door. She calmed down when the soldier explained that he lived in the neighborhood and he had locked himself out of his house. Her panic soon subsided, but the weariness and the anger settled back in. She is angry that her husband, Capt. Frank Leija, and the rest of the Bulldogs have not come home yet, even though President Bush declared that "major combat operations in Iraq had ended. "I want my husband home," "I am so on edge. When they first left, I thought yeah, this will be bad, but war is what they trained for. But they are not fighting a war. They are not doing what they trained for. They have become police in a place they're not welcome."
Fort Hood received their orders to go to Iraq and 20,000 soldiers left the base earlier in the year. The neighborhood is now almost empty, pale yellow ribbons flutter from the trees, and the base has become a drab dreary, depressing and lonely place for the spouses and other loved ones who remained behind.
The ugly mood at Fort Hood is not unique. It exists at all the military bases.
Eight soldiers with Fort Carson ties have been killed since May 1, and many families at Fort Carson, are suffering from anxiety, depression and fear.
Menzer Bobonis, who is married to 42-year-old Sgt. Maj. Sigfrido Bobonis, is attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson.
Bobonis works at Fort Carson's Regional Training Support Center, where she sees plenty of soldiers and their spouses on a daily basis. She hears their fears. "They try not to listen to rumors or listen to the news," Bobonis said. "But there's still a lot of gossip going around about the dangers (in Iraq)." "We try to control that."
Frustrations became so bad recently at Fort Stewart, Ga., that a colonel, had to be escorted from a meeting with 800 seething spouses. "They were crying, cussing, yelling and screaming for their men to come back," said Lucia Braxton, director of community services at Fort Stewart.
Long deployment has led to dozens of delayed engagements, family financial problems, missed births and broken marriages. "Guys who had a rocky marriage before, it's worse now," says Staff Sgt. Gordon Baker, 26, of Tannersville, Pa. That may be why many soldiers beg international aid workers and journalists to use their satellite phones. Some vent their frustrations to the folks at home. Others reassure relatives they'll be home soon. Non-the-less, most families are especially grateful for the scratchy phone calls and the brief e-mails they receive.
The Red Cross has also been utilized to help everyone involved, with the stresses of deployment overseas. The Red Cross is charged with the responsibility of delivering emergency messages to those troops. And with more deployments, and longer ones at that, this task is becoming overwhelming for the local chapter.
Before the war in Afghanistan, the office received 15 to 20 emergency messages a month. When the troops were deployed, in late 2001, the monthly messages doubled, said Cecil Stout, disaster management director.
When Operation Iraqi Freedom was in full swing, the calls came to about 60 per month. But as of last month, the calls skyrocketed to nearly 200.
"Our office is just not designed to take that amount of calls," said Stout, who spent 25 years in the Marine Corps.
The photo op that the Bush team came up involving the carrier landing, overstated the war's end, just like they apparently overstated our reasons for going to war to begin with. This fact is not being lost on the spouses of the servicemen and women in Iraq.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of anger, weariness, depression and frustration in military homes throughout the country, which could have been alleviated somewhat by a truly compassionate, leader.
Sources Cited:
Molly Moore and Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post Foreign Service
Charlie Brennan Rocky Mountain News
Jeffrey Getttleman New York Times
Chantal Escoto The Leaf-Chronicle
Greg Williamson The Leaf-Chronicle
# posted by Thomas @ 12:10 AM 
