What I hope will be my LAST post on the Sheehan mess

I was inspired to write this by the words of a commenter calling himself File Closer on this post at protein wisdom, in response to a previous comment by someone calling himself "patton". File Closer was there in Iraq, in an artillery unit attached to Casey Sheehan's battery. He has some choice words for the left. Go read his words. I'll wait

As some of you may have noticed, the moonbats have got it under their tin hats that the BEST argument in favor of Cindy Sheehan and her position is this: you have no right to talk if you haven't been there. Put up or shut up.

Basically, these maroons are throwing the word "chickenhawk" around a lot and claiming that supporting a war that you have not fought in is morally bankrupt.

Ahh, the irony there.....

Anyway this is sooo wrong on so MANY fronts, so I apologize if what follows isn't a smooth piece of writing.

First, serving this country in wartime means a HELL of a lot more than calling 1-800-GO-ARMY (as was suggested by commenter patton at protein wisdom). For every young man or woman who raises their hand and swears to defend this country against all enemies, even at the cost of their life, there are dozens of family members, friends, and coworkers who sacrifice their lives and plans because someone they care about is miles away, doing a very important job. Beyond this there are the thousands of folks who volunteer their time to run a USO room at the local airport, make sure soldiers get care packages, or just take a moment to say "Thank you" to a vet of ANY war. All of these people are serving in their own ways, some at more personal risk than others.

I've been there, you know. I know what it's like. Luckily, my own DH was never deployed overseas, but that was sheer luck and timing. DH was a mechanic in a sister unit to Casey Sheehan's. If he hadn't been discharged, he would have been there too. My BIL was in the SAME unit as Casey Sheehan. He was there. As a family, we serve this country together by supporting our loved troops and putting our lives with them on hold until they get back. It's about unselfishness, putting your nation's needs ahead of your own.

Next, it's a logical fallacy to say that someone CAN NOT have a valid opinion on something they haven't experienced. By that same token, moonies, you need to give up your opinions on Gay Rights (unless you are homosexual) or Abortion rights (unless you have had one). Oh wait, that's not fair, huh? I call BS. It's the same argument. Put up or shut up, right? Except that there's no cute phone number to become gay or have an abortion (or tp get a uterus for the guys, for that matter).

I want to close by reminding people about what happened the day Casey Sheehan died. C 1-82 1CD (C battery of the 1st batallion 82nd Field Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division) was on a rescue mission in Sadr City, just 1 week into their time in Iraq. They were new in country, new to real battle, and definitely not trained for this. This platoon from C 1-82 are MECHANICS for God's sake. They spend every day fixing diesel engines on tanks and artillery. Yet these very brave young men went in to do their duty and resuce their comrades, and they were pinned down by RPGs in an ambush attack by insurgents. Seven men died that day, not just Casey Sheehan. It would have been 8, except that my BIL was shot in his Kevlar vest and went home with a nasty bruise instead of a coffin.

When we talk about SPC Casey Sheehan, we need to remember SGT Eddie Chen, SPC Israel Garza, CPL Forest Jostes, SPC Stephen Hiller, SPC Robert Arsiaga, and SPC Ahmed Cason as well.