thedrifter
07-29-04, 06:55 AM
Marine's done his time in hell
Up in Boston, smiling Democrats were opening their convention and preparing to nominate Vietnam War hero John Kerry for President.
But in Queens, Marie Hernandez Felix could think only of getting her wounded son home from Iraq.
His name is Marine Cpl. Timothy Felix. He is serving his second tour of duty in the current war.
Last Wednesday, Felix, a member of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, was riding in a U.S. convoy in the town of Ramadi. The convoy, according to Pentagon reports, was ambushed by nearly 100 Iraqi resistance fighters. The attack turned into an all-day firefight. By the time the smoke cleared, 13 Marines and one Army soldier had been wounded and 25 Iraqi fighters were dead.
Felix was crouched behind a Humvee during the battle when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded a few feet away. Shrapnel from the explosion tore a hole in one of his legs. Medics who treated him that day told him several pieces of metal remain lodged in the leg.
That was the second time Felix has been wounded in combat since his return to Iraq in February. In March, he was grazed in the right shoulder during a firefight in the town of Fallujah.
After each injury, he got medical treatment and was promptly sent back to his unit.
Sunday night, Felix called his mother, a Queens court officer, at their home. He told her that doctors had slapped some gauze on the hole in his leg, then gave him some morphine and a pair of crutches.
He told her his commander refused his request to be evacuated and ordered him to report back to his post in Ramadi.
"He can't even run with those crutches, and the hole in his leg is still bleeding," his frantic mother said yesterday. "How do they expect him to fight? People don't know what they're doing to these guys. They're treating them like they're not even human."
It has been more than a year since George W. Bush declared an end to combat in Iraq. A month since the supposed transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. Yet still we have attacks on U.S. soldiers by large bands of resistance fighters. Still we have periodic bombings. Still we have daily assassinations and kidnappings of foreign workers.
Wounded Marines like Felix are patched up and sent right back out because there aren't enough soldiers to keep the lid on this colossal failure of a war.
So how do the Democrats in Boston handle the biggest issue in this race for President? They ignore it.
One-time war hero Kerry dares not repeat what he said nearly 35 years ago after returning from Vietnam. He dares not call for an end to a senseless war. Kerry's Democratic Party will approve a platform this week that says virtually nothing in opposition to the war.
In 1970, young naval officer Kerry got an automatic ticket out of Vietnam after four short months in which he racked up three Purple Hearts, all for minor wounds.
Now, an older and supposedly wiser Kerry wants us to believe he can fight a smarter war than Bush. He assures us he will convince more allies to send their own young men to occupy Iraq.
But in Richmond Hill, Queens, a mother frantic about her own wounded son doesn't want to hear about smarter wars.
"Enough is enough already," Marie Felix said. "We shouldn't even be there in the first place."
Originally published on July 27, 2004
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/611-felix_t.JPG
Marine Cpl. Timothy Felix has been wounded twice in Iraq and twice sent back to fight.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/216057p-185975c.html
Ellie
Up in Boston, smiling Democrats were opening their convention and preparing to nominate Vietnam War hero John Kerry for President.
But in Queens, Marie Hernandez Felix could think only of getting her wounded son home from Iraq.
His name is Marine Cpl. Timothy Felix. He is serving his second tour of duty in the current war.
Last Wednesday, Felix, a member of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, was riding in a U.S. convoy in the town of Ramadi. The convoy, according to Pentagon reports, was ambushed by nearly 100 Iraqi resistance fighters. The attack turned into an all-day firefight. By the time the smoke cleared, 13 Marines and one Army soldier had been wounded and 25 Iraqi fighters were dead.
Felix was crouched behind a Humvee during the battle when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded a few feet away. Shrapnel from the explosion tore a hole in one of his legs. Medics who treated him that day told him several pieces of metal remain lodged in the leg.
That was the second time Felix has been wounded in combat since his return to Iraq in February. In March, he was grazed in the right shoulder during a firefight in the town of Fallujah.
After each injury, he got medical treatment and was promptly sent back to his unit.
Sunday night, Felix called his mother, a Queens court officer, at their home. He told her that doctors had slapped some gauze on the hole in his leg, then gave him some morphine and a pair of crutches.
He told her his commander refused his request to be evacuated and ordered him to report back to his post in Ramadi.
"He can't even run with those crutches, and the hole in his leg is still bleeding," his frantic mother said yesterday. "How do they expect him to fight? People don't know what they're doing to these guys. They're treating them like they're not even human."
It has been more than a year since George W. Bush declared an end to combat in Iraq. A month since the supposed transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. Yet still we have attacks on U.S. soldiers by large bands of resistance fighters. Still we have periodic bombings. Still we have daily assassinations and kidnappings of foreign workers.
Wounded Marines like Felix are patched up and sent right back out because there aren't enough soldiers to keep the lid on this colossal failure of a war.
So how do the Democrats in Boston handle the biggest issue in this race for President? They ignore it.
One-time war hero Kerry dares not repeat what he said nearly 35 years ago after returning from Vietnam. He dares not call for an end to a senseless war. Kerry's Democratic Party will approve a platform this week that says virtually nothing in opposition to the war.
In 1970, young naval officer Kerry got an automatic ticket out of Vietnam after four short months in which he racked up three Purple Hearts, all for minor wounds.
Now, an older and supposedly wiser Kerry wants us to believe he can fight a smarter war than Bush. He assures us he will convince more allies to send their own young men to occupy Iraq.
But in Richmond Hill, Queens, a mother frantic about her own wounded son doesn't want to hear about smarter wars.
"Enough is enough already," Marie Felix said. "We shouldn't even be there in the first place."
Originally published on July 27, 2004
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/611-felix_t.JPG
Marine Cpl. Timothy Felix has been wounded twice in Iraq and twice sent back to fight.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/216057p-185975c.html
Ellie