The War in Iraq Ends – Bring Them Home


The War is Over

American troops are leaving Iraq.  The war has been declared a victory.  We are filled with gratitude that our men and women are coming home, that they are leaving harm’s way behind.  For those of us who have lost a friend or loved one in Iraq, this day is bittersweet.  We are acutely aware of the cost of war.  But now we open our arms and welcome home those who have served with honor and courage. Let us never forget their sacrifice.  May we always show compassion toward them, knowing that there will be battles that some will continue to fight even though they are home. May we never forget the soldier who remains in enemy hands, SSG Ahmed Kousay Altaie.  Let us pray fervently that he too would be brought home; pray that the day will come when we can truly say “no man left behind”.  May God bless all who were touched by this war, all who sacrificed.  May peace be upon them and give them rest. Δ  

 

 

Bring Them Home

Bring home my father 
so I can hear his voice as I step to the plate
“eye on the ball son”

Bring home my mother
so she can brush my hair 
and listen to my sorrows

Bring home my sister
so we can stay up late into the night
listening to music and sharing secrets

Bring home my brother
so the bed across my room
is no longer empty but calls out
“Good night bro, 
try not to be so ugly tomorrow”

Bring home my husband
so we can grow old together
holding hands on the front porch swing
in the cool of the evening

Bring home my wife
so I can breathe again
knowing she’s safely in my embrace

Bring home my daughter
so I can walk her down the aisle 
and have the first dance

Bring home my daughter
so I can have the hope of a
grandchild to wrap up in my arms

Bring home my son
so I can make him his favorite meal 
and watch him eat it

Bring home my son
so the family name
does not end 
here

Bring home my father
my mother
my sister
my brother
my husband
my wife
my daughter
my son

Let the war be done

Bring them home

Now.

by Goliath VanDorn

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Centrist + Independent Voters In Coalition for America, CIVICA, CURRENT EVENTS, Foreign Policy, Uncategorized , , , , ,

Veterans Day 2011

 

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
   For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.

Some of them were drafted;
  Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,
  On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
   These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.

Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.

We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say “thank you” to every wearer.

By Joanna Fuchs

 
 

Centrist + Independent Voters In Coalition for America, CIVICA, Our America , , , , , , , , ,

Independence Day 2011: Celebrate Freedom!

Independence Day

In the year of 1776
That paper was decreed -
They were tired of oppression
And wanted to be freed.

They wrote a Declaration
So the whole world would see
This was, “the home of the brave
And the land of the free”.

They signed that piece of parchment
The leaders of this land
Knowing, divided they would fall
But, together they could stand.

A new world lay before them
Untamed from shore to shore -
They swore the would protect it
If it meant going to war.

Battles have been fought
And many lives have been lost -
So sad something so basic
Has such a high, high cost.

Seems freedom is a luxury
There’s some would bind us all -
Like then, together, we can stand
But divided, we will fall.

More than two hundred years
Have past by since that day
That each of us celebrate
In our own different way.

We should be proud and thankful
Pay a share of the cost -
Not take freedom for granted
For it easily could be lost

by Del “Abe” Jones

CIVICA , , , , , , ,

Memorial Day 2011


 

These men and women who served America were more than names on a wall, more than numbers, not simply lumps of clay. Lest we forget they were once children, they all were loved; they were people. May we never forget their lives and always honor their sacrifice.


 

"...... there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men."


 

American Military War Death Tolls
–
WW1: 116,516
WW2: 405,399
Korea: 53,686
Vietnam: 58,209
Gulf War: 258
Iraq: 4,442
Afghanistan: 1,571

Faces of the Fallen: Iraq & Afghanistan

 

Army Spc. Jason D. Fingar of Columbia, Missouri died in an improvised explosive device blast on May 22, 2010 while serving in Afghanistan.


 

Julia Mathes, the widow of Army Specialist Marcus Mathes meets her husbands coffin as it arrives home in Florida. Specialist Mathes, 26, was an equipment driver with the Army. He and three others, including his close friend Mark Stone of Texas, were killed when a mortar exploded in eastern Baghdad on April 28, 2008.


 

The casket of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Geary is carried from a military airplane during a ceremony at Griffiss International Airport, Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Rome, New York as family members, (l-r), cousin Dawn Roux, father Michael Geary, and mother Aggie Geary embrace. The 22-year-old was killed a week earlier when a bomb struck his Humvee in Afghanistan.


 

The cost of war is always too high; the price of freedom is unmeasureable. Let us never forget those who have paid with their lives.

.
Our America, Uncategorized , , , , ,

How Our Laws Are Made: Charting the process – how a bill becomes a law

The Schoolhouse Rock “I’m Just a Bill – How a Bill Becomes a Law” video  has enjoyed a surge of renewed interest due to recent comments made by a prominent United States Republican Congressman. This Congressman’s statements revealed that he sorely needed to revisit what he should have learned long before in Social Studies class. While the Schoolhouse Rock video is a great introduction for kids to the process of lawmaking, it’s a little too simplistic for anyone really wanting to understand the twists and turns a bill takes on it’s way to becoming a law. We found an excellent chart diagramming a bill’s sometimes perilous journey to the land of law, shown below, which was created by Mike Wirth in collaboration with Dr. Suzanne Cooper-Guasco Ph.D. We hope you’ll find it both interesting and useful. Be sure to click on the chart for a larger view.

CIVICA, CIVICA RECURRING THEME, LEGISLATION, POLITICAL REFERENCE, POLITICS, Politics USA, RESOURCES & REFERENCE MATERIAL on CIVICA, The Informed Voter, VOTERS , , , , , ,

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