Freedom

This is for those of you, who feel the need to express
Your opinions against war, and how you must protest

I wonder if you think, of the soldiers who must fight
Or the family that's alone, and cry to sleep at night

The sacrifice they make, to ensure that you may speak
And to voice your concerns, for freedom isn't cheap

It's paid by all soldiers, and the family they love too
In lost treasured moments, and phone calls that are few

In months of separation, and sometimes, even years
In constant loneliness, and forever haunting fears

The sacrifices are many, and never for the weak
They must always be brave, because freedom isn't cheap

So next time you are urged, to voice your given right
Remember who protects it; remember the soldier's plight

For they do this out of honor, and your words come at a cost
To the ones left behind, who must deal with the loss

So choose your words carefully, remember the cost is steep
For the families of our soldiers, freedom isn't cheap

©Joyce Lindsey, February 2003
Wife of Sgt. Nathaniel Lindsey currently serving in Iraq

Sgt. Lindsey has been deployed since February and in country since April. He is a member of the Oregon Army National Guard. Joyce's son is in the Army and will be on his way to Iraq sometime early next year.

Almost nothing angers me (Martha) more than a war protest. Participants are no less than traitors, and quite obviously not intelligent enough to grasp the overall irony.

Close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody hands. He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war.

He stands though, with fire in his eyes and victory on his breath. He looks at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this ...

I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it. I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains.

I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business.

It's the soldier, not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press.
It's the soldier, not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech.
It's the soldier, not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate.
It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag.

This arrived credited as a passage from a John Hagee sermon. Someplace else I have the last lines credited to someone else, I think.

All my material - graphics and text - is free for the taking unless marked otherwise.

Comments/support messages are always welcome: MarthaJones1@aol.com (subject line: Freedom)

Mail to Joyce and others (below) will be forwarded by request and may be selected for publication. I realize not everyone wants their name spread all over the 'net. I'm the only one who needs to know who you are. Signing with a pen name, initials, first name only or however you're comfortable is up to you.

Joyce's words were well put and should be read by anyone with a limited view on what fighting is all about. By that I mean, anyone who believes that war is simply about killing and anger. Or thinks that it's a political power struggle, alone. Anyone who doesn't see the extent of what is involved in taking action against those who would allow their ambitions to destroy others. Anyone who enjoys their freedom to think as they do but considers not how they are afforded that privilege.

War (fighting), while it is violent, is not about violence. It's not about blood thirst or victory or 'moving in on' others. It's about defending one's self and others from those who would take away individual power and control for evil and selfish purposes. It's about being our brothers' keeper in a very real way and not just in words.

It's about, if you've got the might and the power to assist those who are weaker, you have an obligation to use it. To stand by and do nothing, when you could help, is criminal. To hide behind a mask of nonintervention is just saving your own ass at the expense of someone else's.

I commend anyone who puts their own life and liberty in jeopardy for the sake of another. Small case or large - local or international. Of course, the greater the personal danger, the more commendable it becomes. Courage is no small feat.

I respect and admire those whose anguish is put aside to support and comfort their loved ones who take on the fight. Theirs is a war of a different kind.

To say that saving freedom and liberty can be done, always, at no cost ... is folly, at best. Shameful and dangerous, at worst. To say that it isn't worth the cost is shortsighted because, in the end, if freedoms aren't fought for, they will disappear ... for all of us.

Those who say that it isn't their fight might be well advised to watch over their shoulders. For if their numbers become more plentiful than those who will advance and be counted, they might find themselves in deep trouble.

Truth is just truth. It isn't always nice; it sometimes isn't pleasant and it isn't concerned with being kind. It's just truth. And the truth is that we will, always, have to fight the evils of tyranny, oppression and abuse. In small ways and in larger, the battles will never be over. It's the way of this life. It's the truth.

Each of us has to choose our fights and we do so according to our abilities and resources. Those who fight for one other are no less valiant than those who fight for the many. But those who do fight for the many deserve loyalty, praise, gratitude and respect from those of us who comprise the many. - Sue W.

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do. ~ Moliere (1622-1673)

Massive kudos to Sue W. for her piece. That needs to be read widely too. Brava! - RM

Joyce's message is excellent. God bless her hubby and all of the troops and their families. Not only do we appreciate our troops, but also, those who are working for U.S. companies helping to reconstruct Iraq. They, too, are in harm's way. Sue W.'s article was very good too. - Sue B.

~~~

Martha - I disagree with you in thinking that people who protest a war are "no less than traitors." I have neither waged war against the United States, nor given aid or comfort to its enemies - the acts for which Article 3 of the Constitution say treason consists. A person can protest a war and not protest the warriors. One can dislike the unconscionable situation into which politicians (most of whom have never been to war) have put soldiers, without protesting the soldiers themselves. A protest against a war can actually be just that ... a protest against the situation. I do not believe our fine military personnel should have ever been subjected to the situation in which they have been put in Iraq. Yet, I admire those military personnel for carrying out their duties.

Yes, I do speak out and protest this war, just like I did the one in Vietnam so many years ago. I do so mainly because, like Vietnam, I feel that it can never be won. I do not burn flags, nor do I aid and abet terrorists. I do, however, feel that I have the right to disagree with this war. My right to disagree came from people like my husband who spent 20 years in the military. Those same people gave you your right to disagree with me. The last time I looked, this was a free country with the rights and privileges thereof. - Joy

Also from Joy: There was an article in the Des Moines Register today about a Vietnam vet, Lou King, who was shot in that war two times. He has worked at (and now owns) a local donut shop for most of 40 years (less his time in Vietnam). I found one of his quotes pertinent to our subject. "Bush's reasoning, I'm against. But I'm not against those boys over there," King said. "I've seen how this country reacted in Vietnam and I wouldn't wish that on anybody."

~~~

Valid points Joy, I'm happy to publish them - that's exactly the freedom I hold most dear. I used traitor as the strongest of available choices, in my opinion, even if not exactly "correct" according to Article 3. Specifically I had in mind those who interfere with military action and/or create uncalled-for, excessive jeopardy - human shields for instance - and/or anyone showing disrespect or disloyalty by insurrection. Insurgence could be the better word. The effects of language or any display boil down to personal interpretation which also extends to those influenced to rebellion by treasonous exertions such as flag or effigy burning. No one has all the answers, but considering how easily those who can't (or don't want to) think for themselves can be persuaded, any negative public demonstration or unqualified presentation can only be labeled hazardous to everyone except the enemy.

I have expressed similar feelings on previous pages, see main WAR index below.

~~~

From Helen Hufford: I will also exercise my constitutional rights, and privileges thereof, by summing up my opinion of this woman's reasoning in protesting a just war, by offering a line from the movie Liberty, "We lost our sense of responsibility somewhere between Vietnam and presidential blow-jobs."

Whenever we dissent, whenever we can't see our way clear to support any and all actions taken by our government and our military in a time of war, whenever we can't stand behind any and all decisions to rid our world of the vermin who wish to do us harm in ways we can't even fathom, we support terrorism, and that is treason.

If they were protesting from iraq, those doing the fighting, then I might listen, but they're not. People who protest a just war make me sick, period.

~~~

Lady, where you in a coma on September 11, 2001?????? Or, maybe still hung over from all those drugs* being passed around to the war-protesting flower children in the '60s??? Do you not understand, the "New Normal"? Or are you of an age, living off retirement your military hubby is receiving from the government, the same government you are so happy to bash, and this gives you time to take out all your frustrations protesting??? You seem so proud of the fact you protested the war in Nam, and that you have rights, the last time you looked, which enable you to protest, "a war we can't win?" I guess for you it's all about winning and losing huh? Well, try this on for size, if we can't win this war against terrorists, as you so aptly declared, then we are certainly doomed are we not? And guess what lady, look again because you'll lose all those rights you are so fortunate to throw around while protesting a war we can't win. My taxes pay your military hubby's salary, for that I am glad, for you to suck off those taxes and live a lifestyle you suspect you deserve while protesting this war against evil dictators, and leaders of countries supporting terrorists that want to kill us, is in my opinion, criminal. - S. L. Dagastino, NY, USA

*I don't get high, but sometimes I wish I did. That way, when I messed up in life I would have an excuse. But there's no rehab for stupidity. - Chris Rock

This statement [A person can protest a war and not protest the warriors.] is like being a little bit pregnant, either you are or you are not! This statement is a total cop-out that the liberal left use to try to justify your protest against the war. Don't you protesters realize that our troops in Iraq hear what is being said against the war, and how it hurts their morale? The way it did our troops in Vietnam.

Vietnam was a political war that a democrat president started for purely political reasons with no intention of winning. These brave young men and women volunteered to serve our country, to die for our freedom if necessary. This nation has become a nation of wimps, to you there is nothing worth dying for, not even freedom.

Take a look back at history. How long do you think it took for America to be founded? We even had a civil war 80 years after America was founded! Was it worth it? I'm sure if you bleeding heart liberals were alive back then you would be screaming, It's not a just war! - Linda

http://www.therealmartha.com/WAR/index.htm
The Whispering Activist Record
Opinions and ideas - mine and from others - everyone can use to get involved, make a difference and lighten the load. Find hoax busters, media hype alerts, timely info, controversy, common sense, commiseration and empathy as well as household tips, easy recipes, critter stuff and variety links with a touch of humor along the way.

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Most appropriate for this page, from numerous e-mail copies - no author credit attached

I sat in my seat of the Boeing 767 waiting for everyone to hurry and stow their carry-ons and grab a seat. I was anxious to get home to see my loved ones so I was focused on my issues and just felt like standing up and yelling for some of these clowns to get their act together.

With everyone finally seated, the attendant came on the intercom, "We are holding the aircraft for some very special people. The delay shouldn't be more than five minutes." After waiting six times as long as we were promised, I was finally going to be on my way home. Why the hoopla? I was expecting some celebrity or sport figure to be the reason for the hold up.

Just get their butts in a seat and lets hit the gas I thought. The attendant came back on to announce that we were being joined by several U. S. Marines returning home from Iraq. Just as they walked on board, the entire plane erupted into applause. The men were a bit taken by surprise by 340 people cheering for them as they searched for their seats. They were having their hands shook and touched by almost everyone within arm's distance. One elderly woman kissed the hand of one of the Marines as he passed by. The applause, whistles and cheering didn't stop for a long time. I was not the only civilian checking his conscience as to the delays in me getting home, finding my easy chair, a cold beverage and the remote in my hand.

I took for granted the everyday freedoms and the conveniences of the American way of life I enjoy while others paid the price for my ability to moan and complain. I attempted to get my selfish outlook back in order and minutes before we landed I suggested to the attendant that she announce a request for everyone to remain in their seats until our heroes were allowed to gather their things and be first off the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the last Marine stepped away.

I felt proud of them. I felt it an honor and a privilege to be among the first to welcome them home and say Thank You for a job well done. I vowed that I will never forget that flight nor the lesson learned. I can't say it enough, Thank You to those veterans and active service men and women who may read this and a prayer is given for those who cannot because they are no longer with us. God bless America! Welcome home! And THANKS for a job well done!!!!!

This is a ribbon for soldiers still in Iraq. Pass it on and pray.