huge sacrifice

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by ChrisH
Oh, boy the tears are flowing here........
Thank you Richard for telling us about three of the brave men who have lost their lives in this war.
Chris

california had quite a few military bases within the state and there is one area, Camp Pendleton about 45 miles south of los angeles, where the US Marine Corps ship out of.

unfortunately, those stories come close to home.

There are quite a few local kids/men that are part of our armed forces from right here in CA. The thing that struck me in the first story was the trek of a fourteen year old boy for a better life, he ends up giving that dream up on some battlefield thousands of miles defending his adopted country.

what does that say about his sacrifice?, what does that say about the lure of freedom and a better life?
the least we owe them is to remember their stories and what they fought for.

Bitz, the soldier with the newborn twins-

when i read that story the first thing that came to mind were
these kids, in a few years, asking mom, 'What was dad like?'

hopefully i won't have a reason to post any more, trying to put a face on war casualties.....

thanks!

[RICHARD]

Unwilling Iraqis tell of being shot by own officers


By Dexter Filkins
The New York Times

DIWANIYA, Iraq -- The aftermath of the firefight was a tableau of twisted Iraqi corpses, tins of unopened food and the dirty mattresses where they had spent their final hours.

But the Iraqi private with a bullet wound in the back of his head suggested something unusually grim. Up and down the 200-mile stretch of desert where the American and British forces have advanced, one Iraqi prisoner after another has told a similar tale: that many Iraqi soldiers were fighting at gunpoint, threatened with death by hard-core loyalists of President Saddam Hussein.

Here, according to American doctors and Iraqi prisoners, appeared to be the confirmation. The wounded Iraqi, whose life was ebbing away outside an American field hospital, had been shot during the firefight Tuesday night with American troops.

It was a small-caliber bullet, most likely from a pistol, fired at close range. Iraqi prisoners taken after the battle said their officers had been firing at them, pushing them into battle.

"The officers threatened to shoot us unless we fought," said a wounded Iraqi from his bed in the American field hospital here. "They took out their guns and pointed them and told us to fight."

As the American medics patched up the wounds of three other Iraqi soldiers, they said there was little they could do for the one who had been shot in the head. Much of his skull had come apart, and the medics labeled him "expectant," which meant he was expected to die. They gave him morphine, wrapped him in a green blanket and put him on a stretcher outside their tent.

"We think he was shot by his own," said Dr. Wade Wilde, a Marine surgeon. "If he had been hit by an M-16, it would have taken his whole head off. It seems like it was an Iraqi gun."

As Wilde spoke, his eyes drifted to the Iraqi soldier, still clinging to life, on the stretcher.

"We've tried to make him as comfortable as possible," Wilde said, "and let the wound run its course."

---------------------------

How ironic,
an american soldier trying to save the lives of Iraqis shot by their own 'people'. the scariest part is that these thugs are killing
people because saddam told them to...

[mugsy]

The more I read and hear about this madman the more I'm glad we are there liberating the people of Iraq.

I can't write what I really feel or I'd get banned from the site.

[RICHARD]

from a WWII poster....


What did you do today for freedom?
Today, at the front, he died...
Today, that did you do?
Next time you see a list of the dead and wounded, ask yourself;

"What can I do tomorrow that will save the lives of
men like this and help them win the war?"

[mugsy]

Very thought provoking. I'll think on that tonight and try something tomorrow.

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by mugsy

I can't write what I really feel or I'd get banned from the site.

clean it up and post it or whisper it in my ear.....












mike, just kidding!!!!!

[Dakota's Mommy]

The more I read and hear about this madman the more I'm glad we are there liberating the people of Iraq.

You and me both Mugsy! You and me both!

I feel that we've got to do something now for these people and for the world before it gets any worse!

[RICHARD]

He was a true American, and a true Marine


When Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez set out to do battle against the Iraqi Republican Guard just outside Umm Qasr, he was probably unable to think of much other than the task at hand: Freeing a port so humanitarian aid could soon make its way to the oppressed people he and his fellow Marines had come to liberate.

Certainly he didn't expect to become one of the first American servicemen to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Nor could he have imagined that he would end up providing the definitive answer to a tired political debate that had for too long divided his countrymen back home.

Sure enough, Gutierrez would end up not only giving his life for his country, but also giving us a lesson on what it means to be an American.

On that day, Gutierrez, an immigrant from Guatemala, laid to rest a line of thinking that's all too common stateside, including in his home state of California.

That line of thinking holds that being an American isn't about living out an ideal set forth by the nation's founders two centuries ago, it's a happy birthright.

What makes one an American, the thinking goes, is the blood in your veins or the hunk of dirt on which you were born, period. To nativists, the United States is the most exclusive club around: If you're not born in it, then you're never really able to join it, either -- at least you shouldn't be.

The life and death of Lance Cpl. Gutierrez offers a very different vision of Americanism.

Orphaned before he turned 10, Gutierrez and his older sister had to quit school to earn a living in a Guatemalan steel factory. They became street kids in a war-torn country where such kids typically weren't treated too kindly by the police and soldiers who patrolled the streets.

So nine years ago, like millions of others before him, Gutierrez decided to seek out freedom and a better life by coming to America. Just 16 years old, he made the 2,000-mile journey from Guatemala, through Mexico and ultimately to California, hopping some 14 trains along the way.

He came as an illegal immigrant, but eventually qualified for political asylum and permanent resident status. Yet even when he died in an American uniform, he still hadn't attained American citizenship.

After arriving in the U.S., Gutierrez settled in Lomita, where he was taken in by foster parents Nora and Marcelo Mosquera. In short order, he would learn English, help raise the Mosqueras' younger children and graduate from high school. He sent money and pictures of himself back to his sister in Guatemala, whom he reportedly hoped to bring to the United States.

A gifted artist, his foster family has said, Gutierrez wanted to become an architect but put those dreams and college on hold, instead choosing another path -- the Marines.

Gutierrez "wanted to give the United States what the United States gave to him," the Mosqueras' adult daughter, Jackie Baker, told KVEA-TV (Channel 52). "He came with nothing. This country gave him everything."

Soon enough, he would give everything to the country he eagerly served. On March 21, fighting alongside his fellow Marines, he succumbed to enemy fire.

Gutierrez might not have been born to American parents or on American soil, but he embodied Americanism -- both before and after going to war.

He embodied Americanism the day he risked his life and set off for this country, looking for freedom and an opportunity to succeed.

He embodied Americanism when he learned the language, then went to school and work.

And he undeniably embodied Americanism on the day he signed up to become a Marine, the day he lost his life in combat and all the days in between.

Some might quibble: He came here illegally; he broke the law.

Fair enough. The rule of law shouldn't be discarded lightly. But then, Gutierrez was 16 years old when he entered this country. American teens break a good many laws every day, but seldom for reasons as compelling.

And whatever debt he may have owed to society for transgressing U.S. immigration policy, he repaid many times over with his own blood.

Gutierrez's only surviving relative is his sister back in Guatemala. She wants to bring his body back to his native land, and there's no begrudging that decision. It's her brother and her grief. Besides, where Gutierrez is buried doesn't matter any more than where he was born. It's his life and his death that tell us all we need to know about his nationality.

Jose Gutierrez was an American, a patriot and a hero -- in that order.


Chris Weinkopf is an editorial writer and columnist for the Daily News. E-mail him at [email protected] .

[mugsy]

Wow! That was a powerful article.

[RICHARD]

they are serving their country......


LA daily news

Two of Miller triplets fighting with Marines somewhere in Iraq


By Carol Rock
Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY -- Jared and Travis Miller, two in a set of 20-year-old triplets from Canyon Country, have always been close.

The boys and their sister, Kelly, got along well enough when they were kids, playing games and doing things that most kids do. Mom Tina Miller said that Kelly often took on the role of protector, warning her brothers to stay out of trouble.

"She would protect them, telling them not to do this or that because 'You'll get in trouble with Mom,"' she said. "Even as little kids, they were very good and very close."

No word has come from the boys since the war began, and all the family knows is that they are somewhere in Iraq -- Jared with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines; Travis, with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines.

Travis, not quite ready to think about college, enlisted in July 2000, shortly after graduating from Canyon High School.

Soon, he was crawling through the mud and hiking for miles, loaded down with a rucksack and a rifle in boot camp. This Marine who left as a boy and came home a man impressed Jared, who was inspired to join the Marines that December.

"I got a letter from Jared and one phone call recently," Tina Miller said. "I haven't talked to Travis since the beginning of February. They can't tell me where they are, but I hope they are safe.
------------------------


i also read of a set of triplet girls who were in the service, beautiful gals........


but, the story that made me think was a Puerto Rican gent who came to the U.S., enlisted and served in Viet Nam.

he has five sons serving at the moment and when asked about why he let his kids enlist he said, 'what better sacrifice for this country than to let my children serve?'

he was very proud of his kids who followed in his footsteps.....

god bless them all.

[mugsy]

'what better sacrifice for this country than to let my children serve?'

Now THAT'S a true American.

[RICHARD]

Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez (the second casualty of the war) and who, as a 14 year old teenager traveled from his home country to the US, was honored a few days ago in El Monte, CA.....

He was granted citizenship, posthumously, and his body was sent back to Guatemala for burial.

The Guatemalan military refused to grant him a military burial because he fought and gave his life for US. Their reasoning???

Since he died fighting for the US, not guatemala, his patriotism was misplaced.

[catland]

that's sad. We should bury him in Arlington.

[mugsy]

His sister, who is his only living relative, wanted him buried in his homeland. What a greeting....I hate stupid people.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Richard, I'm so sad to hear that, he should have been buried here with full military honors, what a sad story.
Jackie, Perry and Miss Daisy