Bringing Our Soldiers Home

Whether you agree with what is going on or not, I think it is important for everyone to support our troops. Taking Chance on HBO is a remarkable movie that truly brings home and brings to life the effect that the loss of these soldiers has had across our country. Seeing the nation come together as a fallen soldier makes his trip across America to his final resting place is truly moving, and there were multiple times while watching that I was fighting back tears.

I felt the same when reading Chris Jones' "The Things That Carried Him" from a May 2008 issue of Esquire.  I'd started reading this article a few times and had never been able to get myself to go all the way through it.  After watching Taking Chance I decided I had to do it, and again I found myself fighting back tears while reading the article on a crowded train ride back from a conference in Chicago.

As of this Wednesday we have lost 4,251 members of the US Military in the Iraq War.  That's 4,251 mothers and fathers who have lost sons.  It's hundreds of families where wives or husbands have lost spouses and children have to grow up without two parents.  Countless others have lost friends that they'll never be able to have a drink with or do any other things that we all take for granted on a daily basis.

 I believe that no matter what your feelings towards the war, your first thought should be of the soldiers, families, and friends who have given the greatest sacrifice. At the very least we owe them our full support. Read the article or watch the movie, see the way the US Military takes care of every soldier that is lost, see the way people across America have united over our losses, and then no matter how soon you want them home, how much you hate what they're doing, what we're doing, I guarantee your first thought from this day forward will be of the soldiers on the ground.