[From Bill Powers (2006.11.12.0815 MST)]\
I sent this letter to the Boulder Camera yesterday after watching a TV report on field medicine in the military. It will probably not be published because they limit people to one letter per month and I wrote one two weeks ago that was published. So I'm sneaking it in here.
Bill P.
···
===========================================================================
Sirs;
Perhaps the Camera will make an exception to the ban on "open letters". I am writing on this Veterans Day to thank our troops in the Middle East, and everywhere else they are posted, for their bravery, their strength of character, their refusal to give in to adversity, and their willingness to use up their lives to protect all of us. It is hard to feel deserving of such sacrifices.
It is hard, too, to say what I have to say here: that these men and women who obey their commander-in-chief so readily and willingly are often misused, and like police or fire-fighters answering false alarms, give their lives because of someone's stupidity, ignorance, or incompetence. They know this. We all know this. So it is even more to the credit of our armed forces that they commit themselves to danger simply because not to do so would put future generations in jeopardy when there really is a wolf. In just the same way, police and fire-fighters respond to all calls for help even knowing that many of them will be a waste of their efforts. These men and women believe it is better to answer ten false alarms than to ignore one real alarm. That is bravery -- real, grown-up bravery -- ten times over.
So I say to all our troops who face death every day, you have not wasted your bravery, your bodies, or your lives, even if, this time, your country has wasted them. You have been there when you thought you were needed, and because of that you will be there, you and those who follow you, when you are in truth needed to protect your friends, your parents, your spouses, your children, your country. You will come home as heroes just as soon as we can manage to get you home without wasting your efforts even more. From all of us, eternal thanks, and for what little they are worth, apologies.
Bill Powers