About Us
Mission Statement
Rules of Conduct
 
Name:
Pswd:
Remember Me
Register
 

Ask a Vet - Christmas 2008
Author: TriSec    Date: 12/23/2008 11:27:11

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,106th day in Iraq.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from the warron terra, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

Since war began (3/19/03): 4212
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4073
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3752
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3353
Since Election (1/31/05): 2774

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 316
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 629
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 408
Contractor Deaths - Iraq: 445


We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 581, 975, 000, 000.00




So this is Christmas. As you'll note from the ticker at the top of the page, "President" Bush will leave office in just 28 days, perhaps the best Christmas present the nation ever got.

But what of the veterans?

The Good Dr. Maddow said it long ago now; the war in Iraq won't truly end until the last tortured veteran dies in his sleep in 2078 or so. I never served in my country's uniform, but I know plenty of people who have. (Perhaps strange here in uber-liberal, America-hatin' Gay-marryin' Massachusetts, but I digress.)

As the veterans come back, they are changed men and women. Some can recover and return to a semblance of the life they had "before Iraq", but some never do. Here is one of their stories.


TEMECULA, Calif. - When Army Sergeant Ryan Kahlor returned from two combat tours in Iraq last year, he was a walking billboard for virtually every affliction suffered by today's veterans. He had a detached retina, a ruptured disk, vertigo, headaches, memory lapses, and numbness in his arms. Fluid seeped from his ears.

He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury. He was violent and suicidal. He carried a loaded handgun everywhere. He drank until he passed out. He cut himself. He burned his skin with cigarettes. He bit through his tongue just to watch himself bleed.

Kahlor, 24, admits he came back not caring about anyone - the military, his friends, his family, or himself. But, pushed hard by his parents, he slowly accepted and then embraced counseling and treatment. Today, he has begun to recover.

His parents are still trying.

The Kahlors - a college employee and a nurse - have fought through a series of transformations unfamiliar to most military families.

Tim Kahlor says he and his wife, Laura, have been left with what he calls, only half in jest, "secondary PTSD." He says his doctor prescribed antidepressants to help him cope with his son's ordeal. And both parents, haunted by their son's physical and emotional breakdown, are fiercely opposed to the war.

Tim Kahlor, 50, who had felt a patriotic surge after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, turned against the war after Ryan complained during his first tour about ineffective body armor and poorly armored vehicles. Laura Kahlor, 53, blames the war for her son's psychological and physical torment. Although she is now grateful for the treatment he belatedly received, she - like her husband - wishes they had never let Ryan enlist.

They are still bitter over the several months that their son drifted while they pleaded with both Ryan and the military for effective PTSD treatment. Ryan survived several roadside bomb attacks in Iraq but was traumatized by the violence he saw.

"I was so naive. I was this kid from the Bible Belt who thought our country would take care of our soldiers," Tim Kahlor said. "I have guilt for helping him get into this."

A year after the terrorists struck America, Tim Kahlor drove Ryan, then 18, to the local Army recruiting office to sign up. Although the Kahlors would have preferred that Ryan attend college, they were proud of his determination to serve his country.

When Ryan wrote about equipment shortages, Tim telephoned and wrote to the Pentagon and Congress. Laura sent Ryan a hand-held GPS device after he complained that military devices kept failing.

Tim Kahlor joined Military Families Speak Out, a group opposed to the Iraq war. He marched in protests behind caskets, lined up boots outside the Capitol to represent the war's dead. He put up a sign outside his home: "Support Our Troops - Let 'em Come Home."

Continued...


There is a story, from the dark days of WWII. It may be apocryphal; it may not be. In any case, I've read about it in several books. One Christmas, perhaps in 1944, at a long-forgotten POW camp deep in Germany, American GIs decided to have a Christmas service. They did the best they could with the meager supplies and Red Cross packages, and ended the service by singing "Silent Night". According to the legend, the Americans were astonished when the Germans guarding them put down their weapons and joined in singing with them. For a brief moment, friend and foe alike were missing their families together, wondering if they'd ever see home again.

So.....remember our troops, remember their families, and just for a moment, maybe we can allow ourselves to think of a better future for us all.


Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth "


http://www.westonpriory.org/esales/images/X01.jpg

 

123 comments (Latest Comment: 12/24/2008 05:23:32 by Raine)
   Perma Link

Share This!

Furl it!
Spurl
NewsVine
Reddit
Technorati