"I'm Not a Number"

Bobby Wagner was buried yesterday. Full military sevice.
A long procession, a Hero's sendoff.

"Never think that war,
no matter how necessary,
nor how justified, is not a crime."
Ernest Hemingway

The e-mail read:

Dear Dad,
I wish I could say all was well here, but
unfortunately, it's not. I'm not sure if
you've heard or not, but Bobby has died.....
Love,
Monica

The papers noted Bobby, recently turned 29, had been killed in Iraq while serving as a private contractor.

Bobby had returned there two months prior, after serving as a Platoon Leader in the marines the year before.

What the pundits failed to mention was the cost of Bobby's military sevice,of his floundering business, his bankrupt marriage, his need to return to Iraq, to recoup those losses.

Bobby went back as a private contractor to recover financially from the hardship of that service. His divorce would have been final in two more weeks.

Bobby was a decorated Platoon Leader, yet why did a royal battle have to be waged to a accord this decorated soldier a full military funeral?

Bobby is not a number, not a statistic on a sheet.
When you see the next tally of our dead, he won't be included. You see, he was a Private Contactor.
They don't count in this war.

Collateral damage? An uncaring administration merely shrugs. Rummy didn't even bother to send his rubber stamped letter.

Monica cries for her lost brother. She weeps for her five year old nephew, but, most of all, she sobs for her lost youth.

My fifteen year old daughter lost her innocence that morning ten days ago. She wrote to me, "Dad, that's life."

I replied, "Please, Honey, don't accept that. Fight to make war and killing unacceptabe." This chain reaction of evil, spawned by 9-11, and nurtered by an unwielding, maniacal leadership is leading us to more wars. We must remind people that hate begets hate, and this chain must be broken, lest we plummet into the dark abyss of annihilation.

She agreed, summarizing as only our youth can. "What a pity, you can only get to heaven when you die."

As you read the latest death toll, the latest news
of our victories. Think of Bobby, He's not a number.

"Repitition does not transform a lie into a truth."---FDR

PEACE-Cliff

Note: I've been asked to explain who Bobby was.
He was my son and daughter's step-brother from
my ex's re-marriage. They were very close.