Thread: 'Stand Behind Us'

In an ongoing series, NEWSWEEK publishes letters and e-mails from fallen U.S. troops in Iraq to loved ones and friends back home. The following are unedited excerpts from correspondence provided by families of the deceased.


Dear Mom,
Well, I am finally in Iraq. I've been here for about three days. I can't tell you exactly where I am due to security reasons. I'm fairly close to Baghdad though. It's not too bad here I guess. We about to take over for 82nd Airborn. These guys are so lazy. We drove here in a big convoy from Kuwait. It's only like 360 miles, but it took like 14 hours 'cause we had to make a couple stops or the vehicles would overheat.

We also found some explosives rigged up on the side of the road. Those f---s fight so chickens---. We only took fire once at the rear of the convoy, but they took care of that. When we showed up to the camp we told the Army guys that we took only that one contact and they were amazed 'cause they said contact is constant when they go out. They realized when they saw us show up that it's the way we conduct ourselves out on patrol. They said it's the constant vigilance, alertness and readiness that makes Iraqis not want to engage us. I like it that way. I was kind of hoping they'd try to hit us 'cause they don't attack in very big groups so we would have slaughtered them. It's kind of sick to think that way, but that's what this place does to me knowing that these cowards are killing Americans by hiding explosives in dead animals and trash along the highway. These aren't just pop-ups you throw on the ground either, these are artillery rounds connected to fuzes ready to blow at the push of a button. And these things will f--- your world up. But we've been traning the last couple of months just on how to spot them, avoid them, and kill the motherf---ers settin it off. Once these guys try to hit us with one of these everyone's gonna come to that final realization and it's gonna piss us off and we're gonna be relentless and not stop killin' til there's no one left to kill. Especially, if any of our Marines gets hurt bad. That's just a little 411 on the situation. Don't worry too much. I can't die anyway. I'm too good lookin' ...
Love always,
Noah
Boye, 21, of Grand Island, Neb., was killed April 13, 2004, when he came under hostile fire near Fallujah.

AP

Wobler: 'I bleed red, white and blue'
Army Sgt. Zachary R. Wobler
January 2004 (open letter to U.S. citizens)
My Fellow Americans:
I am a United States Army Ranger. I am twenty-three years old, I look thirty-two and I feel like I am fifty. On a daily basis I put my body through hell, so when needed I can move further, faster, and fight harder for you. I do not choose my battlefields. I do, however, choose my citizenship. I am a patriot. I bleed red, white, and blue, for you. I have a three-year-old daughter. I've missed two-thirds of her life. Everyday I think of my friends that have died, and I fight back tears. I carry a set of dog tags in my pocket, lest I forget. I spend my holiday season staring at a six-inch, fiber optic Christmas tree that my Mother sent me. I pray for forgiveness. I've done things that I'm not proud of, but I'm not ashamed of them either, because I did them for you. I prefer the road less traveled. I don't do what I do for personal recognition, glory, pity, or money. I do it for you, my fellow Americans. And now I ask one thing of you. Stand behind us. If you choose to degrade my Commander-in-Chief for his decisions, try living in one of the nations of the oppressed. Our nation is a strong, proud nation capable of defeating any enemy. But to do it, we must all, civilians and soldiers, stand behind each other. Visit Arlington National Cemetery. Those that lie there are my brothers-in-arms, my friends, and OUR fellow Americans.
Wobler, 24, of Snowflake, Va., was killed Feb. 6, 2005, by insurgent fire in Mosul. He lies at rest in Section 60, on the corner of York and Marshall Roads, at Arlington National Cemetery.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17935002/site/newsweek/page/2/

It’s sad isn’t it? My daughter just got a letter from one of her guy friends in the war. He said that one of the last killings of soldiers happened while they were giving out candy to the children. Not only were some of the soldiers killed the children were also.

WHAT!?!? American soldiers giving candy to children during a war? OMG how dare they!!! Of course you never see that in the news.

Originally Posted by ilikeGW

WHAT!?!? American soldiers giving candy to children during a war? OMG how dare they!!! Of course you never see that in the news.

What is more news worthy, a child getting candy or the death of 10 US soldiers?

And this is why armchair generals who protest a war they know nothing of, save for filtered, desensitized and censored reports from biased third parties (and do so purely for political reasons) disgust me to no end.

If this war and the reporting are anything like they were from SE Asia in the 60's and 70's I can tell you for a fact your knowledge is flawed.

Two glaring problems with that letter.

Who talks like that to their mother? Seriously, not just using that type of language but who would talk about wanting to kill Iraqis for sport and who tells their mother about an alleged roadside bomb?

Additonally, what member of the military would spell airborne as "airborn"?

Originally Posted by Water

And this is why armchair generals who protest a war they know nothing of, save for filtered, desensitized and censored reports from biased third parties (and do so purely for political reasons) disgust me to no end.

If this war and the reporting are anything like they were from SE Asia in the 60's and 70's I can tell you for a fact your knowledge is flawed.

To whom is this directed?

Originally Posted by Think for myself

Two glaring problems with that letter.

Who talks like that to their mother? Seriously, not just using that type of language but who would talk about wanting to kill Iraqis for sport and who tells their mother about an alleged roadside bomb?

Additonally, what member of the military would spell airborne as "airborn"?

A Marine, only a jar head would be so impressed with himself on the third day.

It was God's intentions. God told Bush to kill that boy. He's in a better place, the BushCo dynasty's riches enhanced, it's all good!

Originally Posted by Sparta

A Marine, only a jar head would be so impressed with himself on the third day.

That's what I was thinking. It sounds exactly like all my Marine friends.