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A letter from Iraq

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Liberty Belle

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I got this from our neighbor girl, a former Miss Rodeo South Dakota, who got it from a cowboy minister friend of hers from Nebraska. He forwarded Cory's letter just before the last election in Iraq and this young soldier is due home this month:

Please pray for Cory, a friend and supporter of our ministry, who will soon be returning home from Iraq to his wife and son in Fremont, NE. He still has some sensitive work to do there as the days countdown to the election there in Iraq. Pray that God brings him and his battalion home safely.

Almost Home, Still a Ways to go

This is close to my last email from Iraq to all of you. Can you believe almost 18 months has gone by. My son was 3 when I left, now he's 5. The huskers have gone from a losing season to playing the Wolverines in the Alamo Bowl. Gas went from 1.72 all the way up to 3.00 plus and now coming back down in the low $2 range. So much has happened at home that I can never get back and people still ask was it worth it. I was sickened to see what the Media has put out recently that America is now saying it wasn't worth it. See I don't much care for the media anymore, from where I stand they have made this war harder on the soldier than almost anything else.

What have we done? What have we done?!? Saddam is out of power, the one who lied a thousand lies, killed hundred of thousands of innocent people. If you don't think Al-Qaida was working with him you are wrong, flat out wrong. Plus these murderers didn't have any place to go after we kicked them out of the Stans. Where did you think they would end up next. If you think you can defeat terrorism by turning your back or waiting to get all the other underhanded countries on board with us, you are still living in that same state of denial. Terrorism will be fought from here on out. If not by us then no one will fight it, and you will never be safe to travel again. Is that what America wants? I know I don't. Do you know how many master mind terrorists we killed or incarcerated? Out of the deck of cards that we started with, we are down to about 9 left. These guys were not going change hobbies because we sent our troops home.

Iraqis are voting for the third time in a year. One of my IA friends who I call Sadik (friend in Arabic) is 37. I am 38. He said he was so proud to vote for the first time in his life he cried. He's my age and he had never been able to vote. This guy is 5'5" and about 125 pounds soaking wet but it's all heart. He's the reason I have no problem with giving up part of my life of freedom and comfort so that another human being doesn't have to fear the night or the knock on his door late at night.

Another leader, Moammar Gadhafi, has given up his WMD on his own, he has seen what happens to those that don't play fair. How many of those people that said "it wasn't worth it" even know what country he is the leader of? Syria is out of Lebanon now. Most importantly there is not one terrorist over here that has gotten a good nights sleep since we've been here. People, this is just some of what we have done over here.

My battalion in particular has run thousands of patrols, found hundreds of weapons caches, dismantled hundreds of IED's, taken 2 HVT's off the deck of cards based on information from the people we have arrested. Opened up two schools, medical facilities, a new police station, improved their road system by securing engineers who come in and work. We had almost 70% of the registered voters in our AO vote. We don't even come close to that back home. And we aren't even in a Shia area. We are in the middle of the Sunni triangle. The MIDDLE. Not one serious incident in our AO against civilians during the last vote. We have done this by constantly patrolling, constantly walking the streets, shaking hands, helping where we can to show these people America does care. So the next time you see another report about how it wasn't worth it or that we are not making progress, just know you know someone over here who thinks different. Who thinks its worth it. Who has seen the progress first hand. We still have a ways to go but by God it was worth it.

I am proud to be an American and I am proud to call you my friends. I have felt God's protection over here because He cares and you prayed for us daily. The election is our last major operation so we will need your prayers even more. I will be outside the wire this time for a couple of days making sure our battalion can talk. I say this so you can be specific with your prayers and also to let you know I am not afraid and have no regrets. It's been 18 months but it was worth it. We did make a difference in this area. We are still making progress. I plan on being back in the states in late Jan so be watching your email boxes for major plans of serious frivolity. I miss you all and look forward to the day when I can look you in the eye and give you hug and say thanks, you too made a difference in my life.

Your friend and brother
Cory
 
Thanks for sharing that wonderful letter with us, Liberty Belle. It's too bad the sacrifices made by someone like him can be enjoyed by those who don't appreciate it.
 
Wow! Liberty Belle, that was awesome! I have already said an extra prayer for Cory and all of the other young heroes that continue to provide freedom and safety for the rest of us. Thank you so much for sharing.

I'm sure that even dis will say that she supports the troops and might possibly even pray for them. It is just so unfortunate that the hate-filled liberals like dis just can't grasp a basic concept. That concept being that it is simply not possible to really support our troops without supporting their mission.

Our troops and their mission are so closely intertwined that we just can't support one without supporting the other. Every time that the cowardly liberals denigrate the mission of our military, they denigrate the troops themselves. Personally, I find this revolting.

Thank you again, Liberty Belle.
 
Thank you, Liberty Belle, for posting that letter. It made me even more proud to be an American, and I am very proud of the soldiers like Cory who DO make a real difference.

Disagreeable, please read that letter with an open mind. Cory is speaking from the trenches. He speaks the truth and talks straight from his heart.
 
My cousin fell off a tank 3/4 of the way through his second rotation in Iraq and broke his foot.
When he first came home, he spent the first two weeks tied up in knots, desperately wishing he could go back. As a Sgt, he was worried to death over several kids who were under him over there.

Three months later, knowing that those kids are doing okay, he laughingly says he wishes he knew all it took was falling off a tank. He'd have done so during his first rotation. (seeing how that first vacation over there affected him, I'm betting he wasn't really joking)

He was fired up to go. (well, the first time anyway...the second was more of a resignation than anything)
He's proud of what's been accomplished over there, too. He is proud to have been a part of it. But he thinks it's long past time to be done...

A friend of ours was in the SD Guard during the first year over there. Again, another guy that was happy to go, proud of what was accomplished and positively swears he'll shoot himself in the leg if they call up his unit again.

Personally, I don't listen to news reports on the "progress" or lack thereof. I listen to guys who go over with a patriotic fire in their belly and have since decided that enough is enough.

And apparently both of these guys I just mentioned can't possibly support the troops without suppoting the mission. Despite being the troops... :roll:

I *do* hope you all are listening to the folks who are coming home. If you know people well enough that they'll actually be candid, you might be surprised how common the disenchantment with the whole thing is becoming... :(
 
HMW,
Did you read anything even resembling disenchantment in Cory's letter? I certainly didn't and I haven't heard any after talking to several of "my kids" who have served in Iraq in several different braches of the service, including four who have served two tours of duty in Iraq or in Afghanistan and Iraq. They volunteered for that duty and served with pride and a determination to make things better for an oppressed people and to make the world safer for the folks at home.

One of these young soldiers, also named Cory, was wounded in Iraq when a roadside bomb blew up the Humvee he was in. As soon as he healed up he was back on duty with the rest of his buddies and he believes very strongly that what the military is doing in Iraq is necessary for our for our country's security as well as for the welfare and safety of the Iraqis. Cory is very proud to have served his two tours of duty, almost as proud as we are of him.

Yes, by all means talk to the guys coming home. Chances are you'll hear a whole different story than the news media is telling you.
 
Nope, I didn't read any disenchantment in that letter. I also don't know who it was to, since it says, "you all." and I also don't know if he would be completely candid to "you all."
I do know he wouldn't be completely candid with *us* all because even you don't know him.

Like I said in my first post, I don't really pay much attention to the media on this (and I mean *any* of the media, including Rush/Fox etc since they have their spin, too).

I talk to people I know who have been there. People who are proud of what they did while they were over there.
And most of whom wouldn't go back for all the bonuses in the world...

Now, the backdoor draft, on the other hand... :roll:
 
I don't know the young soldier who wrote this letter, although the friend it was sent to knows him very well. I do, however, know the young soldiers I mentioned VERY well and I have no reason not to believe everything they tell me about their tours of duty in Iraq. Why would they volunteer a second time if they didn't believe what they were doing was right and important? They're brave and patriotic, but not stupid. I thank God for them, as should every American who values freedom and our way of life.
 
My cousins son was in Iraq and was blown off a building. His comrades thought he was dead. He wasn't though. 70 stitches to his face and a chance to come home. NO SIR.

"WE HAVE A JOB TO DO."

Soon as possible he was back in Iraq by his own choice.
 
Faster horses said:
My cousins son was in Iraq and was blown off a building. His comrades thought he was dead. He wasn't though. 70 stitches to his face and a chance to come home. NO SIR.

"WE HAVE A JOB TO DO."

Soon as possible he was back in Iraq by his own choice.


that is the guts and glory which make our country so great.
God Bless America!
 
I never said everyone was disenchanted. I said you might be suprised how many *are*.

And I've discovered that when people are fired up about the "rightness" (or "wrongness", for that matter) of the war, that's who they tend to hear; only those who support their opinion.
 
I never said everyone was disenchanted. I said you might be suprised how many *are*.

And I've discovered that when people are fired up about the "rightness" (or "wrongness", for that matter) of the war, that's who they tend to hear; only those who support their opinion.
How true…
 
My cousin also pointed out that lot of returning guys, particularly the younger they are, give answers they think people want to hear... (in our part of the world, of course, that means people want to hear that it's going well, send me back Uncle Sam, hoo-rah, etc.)

And I know for a fact, that expectation was really hard on him when he came home the first time. He had to bottle up all of his misgivings and hesitations because no one wanted to hear *that* stuff.
He's having an easier time this time around. I suppose because he's already been through this all before...

But that's why I made the qualifying statement of knowing someone well enough that you know they'll be candid. Some people still feel that patriotic fire in their belly, even after they come home, but many don't.

And you won't ever know it unless they know that you'll respect their feelings either way...
 

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