Hope Rides Alone

By Eddie Jeffers



I stare out into the darkness from my post, and I watch the city burn to the ground. I smell the familiar smells, I walk through the familiar rubble, and I look at the frightened faces that watch me pass down the streets of their neighborhoods. My nerves hardly rest; my hands are steady on a device that has been given to me from my government for the purpose of taking the lives of others.



I sweat, and I am tired. My back aches from the loads I carry. Young American boys look to me to direct them in a manner that will someday allow them to see their families again...and yet, I too, am just a boy....my age not but a few years more than that of the ones I lead. I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid...because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from around street corners and windows, and it is always there.



There are the demons that follow me, and tempt me into thoughts and actions that are not my own...but that are necessary for survival. I've made compromises with my humanity. And I am not alone in this. Miles from me are my brethren in this world, who walk in the same streets...who feel the same things, whether they admit to it or not.



And to think, I volunteered for this...



And I am ignorant to the rest of the world...or so I thought.



But even thousands of miles away, in Ramadi, Iraq, the cries and screams and complaints of the ungrateful reach me. In a year, I will be thrust back into society from a life and mentality that doesn't fit your average man. And then, I will be alone. And then, I will walk down the streets of America, and see the yellow ribbon stickers on the cars of the same people who compare our President to Hitler.



I will watch the television and watch the Cindy Sheehans, and the Al Frankens, and the rest of the ignorant sheep of America spout off their mouths about a subject they know nothing about. It is their right, however, and it is a right that is defended by hundreds of thousands of boys and girls scattered across the world, far from home. I use the word boys and girls, because that's what they are. In the Army, the average age of the infantryman is nineteen years old. The average rank of soldiers killed in action is Private First Class.



People like Cindy Sheehan are ignorant. Not just to this war, but to the results of their idiotic ramblings, or at least I hope they are. They don't realize its effects on this war. In this war, there are no Geneva Conventions, no cease fires. Medics and Chaplains are not spared from the enemy's brutality because it's against the rules. I can only imagine the horrors a military Chaplain would experience at the hands of the enemy. The enemy slinks in the shadows and fights a coward's war against us. It is effective though, as many men and women have died since the start of this war. And the memory of their service to America is tainted by the inconsiderate remarks on our nation's news outlets. And every day, the enemy changes...only now, the enemy is becoming something new. The enemy is transitioning from the Muslim extremists to Americans. The enemy is becoming the very people whom we defend with our lives. And they do not realize it. But in denouncing our actions, denouncing our leaders, denouncing the war we live and fight, they are isolating the military from society...and they are becoming our enemy.



Democrats and peace activists like to toss the word "quagmire" around and compare this war to Vietnam. In a way they are right, this war is becoming like Vietnam. Not the actual war, but in the isolation of country and military. America is not a nation at war; they are a nation with its military at war. Like it or not, we are here, some of us for our second, or third times; some even for their fourth and so on. Americans are so concerned now with politics, that it is interfering with our war.



Terrorists cut the heads off of American citizens on the internet...and there is no outrage, but an American soldier kills an Iraqi in the midst of battle, and there are investigations, and sometimes soldiers are even jailed...for doing their job.



It is absolutely sickening to me to think our country has come to this. Why are we so obsessed with the bad news? Why will people stop at nothing to be against this war, no matter how much evidence of the good we've done is thrown in their face? When is the last time CNN or MSNBC or CBS reported the opening of schools and hospitals in Iraq? Or the leaders of terror cells being detained or killed? It's all happening, but people will not let up their hatred of Bush. They will ignore the good news, because it just might show people that Bush was right.



America has lost its will to fight. It has lost its will to defend what is right and just in the world. The crazy thing of it all is that the American people have not even been asked to sacrifice a single thing. It's not like World War Two, where people rationed food, and turned in cars to be made into metal for tanks. The American people have not been asked to sacrifice anything. Unless you are in the military or the family member of a servicemember, its life as usual...the war doesn't affect you.



But it affects us. And when it is over, and the troops come home, and they try to piece together what's left of them after their service...where will the detractors be then? Where will the Cindy Sheehans be to comfort and talk to soldiers and help them sort out the last couple years of their lives, most of which have been spent dodging death and wading through the deaths of their friends? They will be where they always are, somewhere far away, where the horrors of the world can't touch them. Somewhere where they can complain about things they will never experience in their lifetime; things that the young men and women of America have willingly taken upon their shoulders.



We are the hope of the Iraqi people. They want what everyone else wants in life: safety, security, somewhere to call home. They want a country that is safe to raise their children in. Not a place where their children will be abducted, raped, and murdered if they do not comply with the terrorists demands. They want to live on, rebuild and prosper. And America has given them the opportunity, but only if we stay true to the cause, and see it to its end. But the country must unite in this endeavor...we cannot place the burden on our military alone. We must all stand up and fight, whether in uniform or not. And supporting us is more than sticking yellow ribbon stickers on your cars. It's supporting our President, our troops and our cause.



Right now, the burden is all on the American soldiers. Right now, hope rides alone. But it can change, it must change. Because there is only failure and darkness ahead for us as a country, as a people, if it doesn't.



Let's stop all the political nonsense, let's stop all the bickering, let's stop all the bad news, and let's stand and fight!



Isn't that what America is about anyway

Vermont state Coordinator

NOW WHAT??? Ekkkkk.....

Corrections have been made! Thank you!

Business card idea

Gathering of Eagles 3/17/2007

When the day was over I left the city exhausted and immensley pleased with what this noble, rag-tag group of counter protesters had accomplished. Never again will we stand quietly in the background as the leftist, counter-culture marches and presumes to speak for all of us.
WE were the majority at THEIR rally. A sea of American flags obscured the DC skyline, from all angles.



These threats mobilized an army. Men and women who were no longer willing to stand quietly in the background. They showed up from all over the country, through snow storms and ice storms.
As I walked down the hill from the Foggy Bottom Metro station, the first thing visable was the ANSWER rally area. It was early, about 7:30am and the field was virtually empty. Passing by with a vet I had met up with on the walk, we approached the Eagles rally point. What a vast difference! Already there were droves of people, flags everywhere and in the air a feeling of pride and honor the other side will never know or understand.



I wandered the area, helping to put up even more flags, talking with various folks and just generally enjoying the chilly DC morning. After awhile, I decided to go visit the wall, I wanted to take some pictures for my father. Security was tight. The park service apparently decided the threats were real enough to warrant fencing off the area and requiring a security check including a metal detector. The line to get through was 3 hours! Not a "moonbat" to be seen in THAT line.

I then wandered up to the Lincoln Memorial and was amazed at the amount of people that were there. Eagles all....


From there I went back to see what was going on at the rally point. More people had arrived. Motorcycle clubs were there enmass. The Military MC, Rolling Thunder, Viet Nam Vets USA to name a few. Flag planting was still going on, and there were lots of folks milling around. Lots of hugs, lots of tears, lots of pride and honor.

I hung out here for awhile, watching, talking, walking around. Then I wandered up to the Lincoln Memorial again and then over to where a bunch of Eagles had gathered across the street from ANSWER's rally. It was obvious that we outnumbered them 3 to 1 at that point.

This area was alot of fun! When Cindy Sheehan was announced as a speaker....well let's just say that the booing out blasted their multi-thousand dollar PA system. When the chant arose from the other side "A people united, will never be defeated", the vets answered with "USA" We won...again.
I talked with a bunch of people here. Vets, civilians, supporters all. I watched as "make a hole" rang thru the crowd for a vet in a wheel chair and the people parted in respect for a disabled brother. I watched as grown men in leather openly hugged and wept with joy at what was going on and the companionship and support they were enjoying some 40 years later. Poignant, telling and endlessly beautiful.

As the protesters prepared to march, I headed over to the memorial bridge, as that's the location I chose to stand. On my walk over, I met a Military MC Vet from PA. He offered me a hand warmer which I gratefully accepted. We walked to the bridge and waited. Shortly before they came thru, the NPS asked us to move to the other side of the street as our permit was for the left side of the road, not the right. Some of us complied, most did not. We had them from both sides as they began across the bridge. One vet attempted to make a solitary stand in the middle of the road...NPS made him move.



And then they came. With all their hate and propaganda. And the vets were relentless. It was obvious these protesters had never faced a crowd of trained military men. They were fairly quiet, the few who did speak out were quickly put in their place with shouts of "shame on you", "your grandfather would be ashamed of you" (which had a noticable effect on several of the high school age kids there!) and "traitor".
I ran out of film just as the began to approach (next time bring a digital or many disposables)So I just watched. Amazed at the ignorance that was marching before my very eyes. If you've only seen these events on TV, you have no idea what feelings rage thru you. Anger, sadness, fear for our country and yes, pride for those standing shoulder to shoulder in defense of what is right. When the entire group I was with turned their backs, enmass, on one particularly rude individual, for a moment you could have heard a pin drop. AMAZING.

I'm glad that I went. Proud to have stood with all these beautiful men and women. And the protesters for ANSWER SHOULD be ashamed of themselves. They had the perfect opportunity to thank vets for their right to march. Instead of throwing insults, they should have crossed the lines, shook hands with each and every vet there and thanked them. Regardless of political beliefs, regardless of agenda's, THESE were the men and women who gave them the RIGHT to do exactly what they were doing. Talk about a wasted opportunity! SHAME ON YOU!