I boarded the train as I did everyday. 7:30 a.m. Northbound on the J from Gates Avenue to Canal Street. The train limped along its tracks ultimately stopping short of the Manhattan Bridge.
The voice came over the loudspeaker warning us that do to some "unidentified activity" we were going to have to stop until the line was cleared.
We all sat there nervously flicking through our dailies, playing Solitaire on our phones and using feigned conversation to mask our nervousness.
I thought back to 9/11 when the trains stopped moving and we were held across the water suspended on the elevated tracks just in time to see our city being burned down building by building.
And at that moment I realized that even in places of relative peace, we live in a time of war.
Comments
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 - 06:16 PM
This is the real Leslie Day, I did not write that!!! I was at work and wish people w [...]
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 - 10:36 AM
C'mon James. Since the idiot pissed off the Pope, (and 77.7 million American Catholi [...]
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 - 07:58 AM
Y'all quit talkin bout John being weak..he shoal is smart. I bet he was a big shot [...]
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 - 07:30 AM
Leslie, was he charged in Barnesville?
Sat, Feb 11, 2012 - 07:28 AM
"multiple charges including two counts aggravated child molestation, child molestati [...]
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for they keep us safe and for all they give up-by
leaving their family behind and sometimes they do not
make it back home alive.
They need to know we need them so we may not
have to live thru another terrifying day like 9-11 again.
I think that regardless of our political beliefs, the soldiers should be welcomed home with open arms and gratitude for their service.
I just did a little research on the current number of troops in Iraq and found these stats. See below:
TROOPS IN IRAQ
Troops in Iraq - Total 130,000 U.S. troops as of August 31, 2009. All other nations have withdrawn their troops.
U.S. Troop Casualties - 4,345 US troops; 98% male. 91% non-officers; 82% active duty, 11% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 9% African-American, 11% Latino. 19% killed by non-hostile causes. 54% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 72% were from the US Army
US Troops Wounded - 31,483 through August 31, 2009, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries. (Total excludes psychological injuries.)
US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems - 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home
These statistics are startling and do not even include the number of troops that are in Afghanistan (or casualties/injuries related to that).
Most of the troops that make it home are going to need intensive counseling. A lot will need education/training. If people are worried about the idea of public healthcare -- imagine how much it's going to cost the taxpayers to support thousands of injured troops?! A lot of these soldiers are relatively young and are permanently disabled.
I recently read an article about the Taliban trying to emulate one of the tactics used in the Vietnam War by trying to turn the troops in Afghanistan into heroin addicts. If you recall a lot of the Vietnam vets came home addicted to cocaine and other opiates.
War is never simple and in 25-30 years I pray that there will not be another lost generation of vets wandering around America.
The key word there is “think” and the other key word is “we’re”. However, unless you’ve personally experienced the verbal abuse and spitting, those key words are only fitting because honestly, you can only think that you are aware when actually you aren’t.
United States military personnel must have a unique ability to flip switches inside and go from a defensive posture prepared to take a life to a goodwill representative of the United States and back to defensive postures in the blink of an eye. That control must be maintained 24/7/365-(?). The troops will likely see things that they will never want to talk about so when they come home you should never try to awaken life altering past events. Common everyday noises can create low level switch on/off reactions at times so be prepared for that possibility. At some point in time the military member may want to unload a burden in a conversation, even to a complete stranger. Just be prepared to listen without commenting because listening is the most important ingredient to the unloading process.
Additionally, the people should become aware as possible of what the troops are actually enduring everyday in the zone. News agencies should report daily happenings to the people back home without sugarcoating the facts and without regard to played out politics. Units continually rotate. Finding out which units are coming home, towns could send them congratulations for a great job, a welcome home, and a thank you before they ever leave country. It doesn’t have to be a town from the unit’s home location.
Welcome the troops back with strong support and appreciation for their work. Keep the politicians and the politics out of the war. They are in fact a world away to keep you and your way of life safe and they are doing an exceptionally fine job.
You may elect a civilian leader but it was a military that makes it possible.
Good words, GM! They brought back some good and some bad memories of my short two year Army stint. I cherish all those memories everyday.
A true story..not a cut n' paste job
When President Lyndon Johnson committed to sending ground troops to Viet Nam in 1965, calls went out to all local draft boards screaming for young men to serve our country. There were around 100,000 draftees receiving notices in 1964. After the 'bogus' Gulf Of Tonkin incident in August 1964, Congress passed a resolution giving President Johnson legal authority to expand the war in Southeast Asia. In mid May 1965, a large draft call was issued. I was one of the persons who answered that "call". I had been working for a major airline at the Atlanta airport for a number of years and was expecting to remain there at least 25 more years. REAL LIFE sometimes interrupts well laid future plans.
A best friend of mine and I received our individual "Greetings Letter" from Uncle Sam. We soon were outfitted with new wardrobes of Army Green.
We stood straight and proud ready to go kick the Viet Cong butts. After our large call up, the draft was expanded further and in 1966 over 400,000 men were drafted to help beat back the cunning Communists in Viet Nam. President Johnson didn't procrastinate like President obama does now when it came to sending troops to fight. Johnson beefed up US Military troop strength in Viet Nam to over 200,000 strong. "Operation Rolling Thunder" using the B-52 bombers was pounding hell out of North Vietnam with continuous bombing raids. Certainly, the little guys in black pajamas would submit to the will of us big ol' bad G.Is. Not likely, it made them more determined. The B-52s continued to wreak havoc in North Vietnam. BTW: Twenty five years after the NVN raids, some of these same B-52s blasted the Taliban in Afghanistan in November 2001.
My friend William and I laughingly joked in late 1966 that the war would be over in 6 months. It was for me, but not for him. When 1967 rolled around, it was a pivotal time for me. I could see our political leaders were not trying to win the war. It had ceased to be a conflict between military warriors with opposite agendas who settle matters on a battlefield. The war had turned into a stagnant conflict with huge profits to be made by all but the soldiers actually doing the heavy lifting. When I received my honorable discharge in the Fall of 1967, I stayed in the San Francisco Bay Area with open eyes and a large mouth. I spoke out about the ill fated war since the country had finally awakened to the tactics of our politicians. My friend William enlisted again and again and served 3 tours in Viet Nam. He was wounded twice and received many ribbons and medals. When William returned to FT. Ord California thinking he would be received as a returning hero, he was disappointed. Off the military reservation, he was met with disdain. Even his best friend, Ol' Call was now a bearded, sandal wearing, long haired stranger yelling about the war while promoting America. William was confused and disappointed. He never recovered from his hard fought battles and his disappointing experiences as a decorated hero returning home to be met with disdain.
While I was pursuing a long successful career leading to retirement in my old age, William never survived his Viet Nam war memories. After several failed attempts at surviving in a civilian world with no skills other than killing enemies, William made the decision to take a final and permanent journey to escape his own personal battlefield. He packed bullets into his favorite gun, placed the barrel against his right temple and without knowing the final destination, William left this universe on 8/16/1978.
Did his ill fated returns from War cause his demise? Sadly, I don't know.
In my opinion, America is distracted and desensitized to the horrors of war. The Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Osama Obama, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran are merely words thrown at us 24 hours a day from TV talking heads. We are fighting a REAL WAR for our very existence in our own country with it being destroyed from within. Our country has grown complacent and will remain so until shocked by attacks on the US much greater than 911.
In the near future we won't have veterans RETURNING HOME from war, because, the veterans will be fighting the war HERE.
Call N. Alcars
#9 - the time to bring home the troops will be when, and only when, this war is won. I'm over 55 years old and I wouldn’t hesitate to go to Iraq or Afghanistan if my country asks me. I’m old and out of shape, but I bet I can still put up one hell of a fight.
Love,
Marjorie Sheila Tolley, Thomas, Tomlin, Turner, Tolley
(I went through Hell to get that maiden name back and I am not changing it again.)
The William story is the way it happened with lots of drama, violence, deaths, battles, births ,careers, excitement, disappointment, marriages and divorces OMITTED on purpose.
I will add, one of the hardest things I could NEVER do was explain WHY?... to William's 11 year old son. We sat side by side holding hands during William's funeral while looking at his father's body lying in Dress Greens with a chest full of Army medals and ribbons.
His son never recovered from the memory of his father's suicide.
The poor lad grew into adulthood as just another lost soul carrying burdensome memories of a war his Dad fought long ago .
Thirty one years after his funeral, William's complex life makes me wonder why he fought so hard to survive during a great deal of fighting on the battlefield, only to die at his own hand. William sent a counted 16 Viet Cong to their graves. He was the most violent friend I ever had, AND he was the most gentle friend I ever had. He may have been physically 'back home', but, mentally he never left the rice paddies and jungles of Viet Nam. He had been dead many years before 8/16/1978.
Salute!
Call N. Alcars