Some people should just shut up
I mourned the recent loss of another Canadian soldier in Afghanistan this weekend (a reservist, no less), but I fumed at some of the remarks which sprung, unbidden from people who really should have just kept their traps shut.
I won't speak ill of the dead since there's no documented evidence of what he is alleged to have said. However, anyone who has seen documentaries like 'Letters Home' will know that soldiers serving far away will have some pretty far ranging thoughts and emotions running through their hearts...some of which might be misconstrued upon reading.
'nuff said there.
However, I will point out a few things - as I did with that so-called "Draft Dodger" guy who ran to Canada from his US Army unit.
- Service in the military is volunteer.
- Its "military." What the heck do you think you might actually be doing??
- The days of recruiters lying to people are long since past.
- Reserve augmentation on Operational deployments (in the CF) voluntary
- Having said that, you get integrated right in....there's no distinction made just because you are a reservist...no 'lesser jobs' because you usually do the gig part-time.
- You should know this particularly if it is your second tour on Operations
So...to the father of the late soldier's girlfriend: please shut up. Your allegations do more to sully the boy's memory than they do anything else. Sure, you're hurt and you're looking for someone to blame. Tell you what: why not blame the guys on the other side of the firefight? Why not blame the international community for failing a nation so badly it fell into anarchy and fundamentalism? Don't blame the military here unless they really missed the ball on his ability to get the job done.
If nothing else, at least he had the balls to stand up and be counted when it really mattered. All you're doing is spewing a lot of shit.
Edit: an article posted to the Toronto Star's website this evening had some words from his father. While he didn't have to directly refute the claims made by the girlfriend's father, his words were enough to put the claims into serious doubt. Nice to see some sanity for a change.
3 comments:
Ouch, but point taken.
What bothers me the most about this is that the media turns every death into a circus sideshow. A fallen soldier is one thing, but if - God forbid - someone I cared for were to die by murderous means, the last thing I'd do is cry about it to some reporter who thinks that this is going to make for great ratings.
I see reporters knocking on the doors of victim's families, people killed by guns in city streets, or victims of drunk-driving, whatever the case may be and it makes me sick.
Whatever happened to closing your doors and mourning privately instead of taking the most pathetic of opportunities to get your 15 seconds?
Three cheers to the family for making their mourning and the funeral a private affair. Keep the media at bay!!
The father has come right out now (as far as I read online) and said that his son didn't say any of those things.
Perhaps it's as you said, MOssy, and his letters home were just misconstrued.
(1) *Anybody* away from home for a long time, with loved ones waiting for them, with want to come home.
(2) To say "I wasn't prepared for this" may not refer to his training, but perhaps his state of mind at seeing a true battleground. We all thing we're ready for horrible things, but in actual fact, truth is far more terrible than fiction.
If I didn't know personally and like tremendously a few reporters, I would suspect that they weren't really human.
Vultures. "Your love one died, how's that make you feel?"
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