Keeping the Faith

I've had a little case of writer's block. Let's be honest here, I've had a huge case of writer's block, and could think of nothing that seemed appropriate. Blame it on the pregnancy hormones, I am mostly all about the baby, all the time.

But a thought has been kicking around in the back of my mind for a few days now, and I think I've gathered my thoughts together well enough to put it to words, and to do it justice.

It is a shame, a damned, embarrassing shame, how quickly the soldiers fighting and dying still in Iraq, have been forgotten. When Rachel Maddow, Keith Olberman, Stephen Colbert, and all the news channels, trumpeted the news that the war was over, Americans on the whole celebrated, flew their flags for all of 2.5 seconds, and went on their collective merry way. It was those of us who know, who understand, who are still separate from our loved ones, that were left, still shouldering the burden of deployment, and still doing it everyday with a smile, while waving the flag.

Let's get something straight, dear readers. EVERY soldier is a combat soldier. Every single soldier in the United States Soldier is a combat soldier. All of them, whether they are infantry or calvary, whether they work on tanks or push paper, are trained as soldiers first. They all go through the same basic training, they all learn to handle and fire a gun. Seeing the words Last Combat Brigade Leaving Iraq splashed across every news organization was an infuriating slap in the face.

The 50,000 soldiers in Iraq are still facing danger. They're still getting shot at, blown up by IEDs, they are still running the risk of losing their lives. The term help and assist is a political term, dreamed up by some person at a desk with more college education than common sense. I, along with every wife I know, we all know better, we are still facing the ugly truth that makes up deployment. There have been injuries, and even casualties, among the US forces still in Iraq since the start of Operation New Dawn, the bullets have not stopped coming, there are still bombs and dangers faced every day.

A minor aside here, but let's clear up another point while I'm thinking about it; Iraq is not the better of two places to be. Iraq is still a war zone. Every soldier there is still at a very real risk, they are still under a very real threat. Telling me, or any another wife that we should be glad our husbands are in Iraq is not compassionate or helpful in anyway form or fashion.

The fact, the very fact that the American people can be so easily misled into such a belief, that all is well, because some politician told us that the war is over and that must mean that no one is shooting at the soldiers still there, is disheartening. Iraq is rapidly becoming the new Korea, it's soldiers forgotten, their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families all but forgotten.

So here I sit, my dog propped up against a rapidly growing baby bump, wondering if my child, my first child, will get to know the man who helped create that life. Doing my best to document every day, every milestone of a life that has barely begun, for the man I promised I would be here for. My husband does not abandon his post, nor will I.

I will keep the faith, I will remember the struggles and suffering, and I will keep hope, I will keep that last light on, when everyone else seems to have turned theirs out. And every chance I can, I will look East, and I will not forget all who are still there, still fighting for me, and every single one of us.

~Jennifer