In case all this fuss about the economy has caused you to forget, Larry Nakfoor of Grand Ledge reminds us that our sons and daughters are still marching off to war.
Here’s part of what Nakfoor wrote in an e-mail to me:
“On a recent weekend I flew down to Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina, to see HM2 Michael Luce, from Lansing, and the Marine unit he is assigned to, ship off to Iraq.
“For 15-20 minutes I just watched as the servicemen and their families said their good-byes. The whole scene was very moving.
“I couldn’t help but think back to a warm July day some 39 years ago when I left Fort Lewis for Vietnam. And, yes, I had even more questions about our mission in Iraq than what I did when I was leaving for Vietnam.
“As a father of two sons, I have counted my blessings that they haven’t been called upon to serve in Iraq, or past wars. My heart sank two years ago, when I found out my nephew and his airborne unit were being transferred to Iraq. But that is the closest the war got to our immediate family.
“Like most Americans, I too have become desensitized over the past years — mostly due to presidential race and economic problems — to most Iraq news stories.
“That changed that day at Camp Lejeune. The war becomes a lot more personal when you see the faces of 270-plus servicemen, and the families being left behind.
“The scene made me question our nation’s priorities . There was no news coverage, public officials or crowds to see these men and women off.
“Do we as a nation so easily commit these young men and women to a war that we can’t at least show up to thank them as we send them off?
“What does it say when CEO bonuses, bank bailouts, and the tax problems of cabinet nominees are all front-page news, while these departing troops can’t even get one reporter to give them 100 words on page six?
“How can this be? Do we just think the measure of our commitment to our servicemen and veterans is the memorials we build AFTER they’re dead and gone?
“If we can’t give 100 percent support for our troops, then we need to get the troops out.”
