6 Years Ago

Well, yesterday was the 6th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I couldn't help but think about it as I walked around the base and flew a training flight yesterday. I was getting ready for school in Texas when my dad called me to announce that we were under attack. I turned on the TV just in time to watch the second tower fall. I thought that they were replaying the collapse of the first tower. I think my emotion at the time could best be described as shock. It was unreal.

My application for flight school had already been submitted to the Navy and was being processed so I can't claim that the attacks had any effect on my desire to join. It did make me anxious to get into a position where I could take an active part in the fight.

So here I am six years later. I have green entries in my logbook which signify that I have flown my helicopter into combat zones. I've achieved the previously mentioned goal to take part in the fight.

This war has meant that the 3 to 4 month deployments that used to be the norm for the HSC community are now 8 months or more. It means more time away from my family. In just the few months that I've been here Michenna has learned to swim and started first grade and I missed the opportunity to go to a formal command dinner with Tricia back on Guam. That's just what it has meant to me personally. To the families of the 3700+ that have been killed in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom it has cost much, much more.

I saw an article comparing the deaths from the war to the deaths on September 11 (2,752). I think that it does a disservice to both groups to compare them. Everyday I stand in line at the chow hall with soldiers and marines who are getting ready to go into harms way. They have no illusions about where they're going or what they may be called upon to do while they are there. The servicemen who lost their lives here knew that they were risking their lives. They did it anyway.

Earlier this year, I read this article: http://michellemalkin.com/2007/01/19/the-immortal-words-of-2lt-mark-daily/ I think that 2lt Daily summed up my feelings about this war and the sacrifices being made for it better than I ever could.

The people who lost their lives on 9/11 didn't have the opportunity to make that choice. They had no idea when they went into work that day or boarded the plane that they would become casuaties in what I believe is quite literally a fight between good and evil. They were not offered a chance to defend themselves.

I'm not saying that the war is perfect. We're fighting an enemy unlike any that we have ever faced and mistakes have been made. However, this is a war we must win. The forces of evil (melodramatic, sure but I can't think of a better way to summarize the miriad of groups that we are facing) have chosen to make Iraq their great stand. They are putting everything they can into beating us here. We shouldn't accept the "rainbows and sugar" illusion that we can end the war by pulling out of Iraq. They don't want Iraq. This isn't a war about land or government. They oppose our ideals. They are opposed to everything we represent. Before I left Guam, I got to see the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff speak. I think he summed it up better than I can. http://www.arcent.army.mil/news/archive/2007_news/may/may28_01.asp

Well, that's enough of a soapbox for now. I guess I can sum it up by saying that I believe in what we're doing here and I'm proud to be a part of it. To put everyone's mind at ease I really should point out that our mission here is not really that dangerous. I know, I talk about combat time and all that but we fly into safe areas.