IN MY SHOES: Advice To A Son Heading Off To War
Lt. Col. James Zumwalt, II, USMCR (Ret.), whose family’s military service stretches back generations to the American Revolution, writes an op-ed for The Washington Post about how he struggled to give his son advice when he got called to duty in Iraq:
For three years, I knew this day would come. I thought I would be prepared. Coming from a family whose proud military heritage dates to this country's founding, and having served in the Marines for a quarter-century and lost a brother to war-related causes, I felt ready for any challenge military life might bring.
I was not. …
My son, who was commissioned in the Navy in 2005, chose an extremely dangerous specialty - explosive ordnance disposal. EOD is a cadre of quiet professionals working with a wide range of explosive material, from small conventional bombs, such as improvised explosive devices, to nuclear warheads. …
Given the increasing demand for EOD specialists, I knew the time would come when James would follow in footsteps of many in our family. He, too, would answer his country's call in a faraway land.
I felt it important to impart guidance about combat service before he left. …
I had to counsel him that we are fighting an enemy unequaled in its brutality and barbarity; that no American soldier taken captive by this enemy has returned alive; that once their remains were found, their condition attested to the terrible price these soldiers ultimately paid; that they were victims of sadistic torture, mutilation and decapitation. I had to counsel him that, if he is faced with capture by this enemy, surrender is not an option [emphasis, The Stiletto].
Editorial Note: During the upcoming debates between Barack Obama and John McCain, The Stiletto hopes one of the moderators - Jim Lehrer, Tom Brokaw and Bob Schieffer - asks why they both insist that refraining from using aggressive interrogation techniques on captured terrorists and al-Qaeda insurgents will guarantee our soldiers will be treated humanely when they are captured by terrorists and al-Qaeda insurgents, seeing as how Islamofascists follow their own twisted, barbaric version of The Geneva Conventions.
The Pentagon has assiduously banned photographs of the flag-draped coffins of our war dead, but the Fallen Hero Commemoration Act (HR 6662) - introduced earlier this month in the House by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), who sits on the Armed Services Committee - could change that. During the Civil War, newspapers published photographs of the war dead, and Americans read battlefield accounts of the carnage in breathless dispatches, some written by the soldiers on the frontlines. If the Pentagon means to win the Iraq war, it must stop censorship of information that is not mission-critical.
For this reason, The Stiletto doesn’t think HR 6662 goes far enough. If the American public could see inside those coffins - only when the fallen soldiers’ families permit it, and the viewing is respectful and not sensationalized in any way - the resulting outrage would strengthen our resolve to stay the course in Iraq until the enemy is utterly and completely crushed. Americans aren’t tiring of the war; they are tiring of the stalemate after all the blood and treasure expended since 2003. As with the Civil War, “peace with honor” - which everyone in the world understands to be a euphemism for “cut-and-run” – is not an option.
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