thedrifter
05-04-07, 08:45 AM
'Band' deserves a continuing salute
May 4, 2007
Most of them made it back, and mostly intact, at least from what shows. But the men of the U.S. Marines, 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment, chronicled by the Free Press as Michigan's Band of Brothers, will likely never be the same after their tour of duty in one of Iraq's worst war zones.
Of more than 900 members of the mostly Michigan unit sent to Iraq, 22 died and 45 others suffered injuries serious enough to be sent home. Most of them did or saw things for which no amount of training can be adequate preparation. Many will require time and help to readjust to civilian life; some will embrace their old routines with profound gratitude; others will never find "ordinary" life satisfying again.
There are thousands more like them, and there will be thousands more to come as the war drags on with no resolution in sight. They return from a highly charged and dangerous atmosphere to revel in a warm and enthusiastic welcome, and then, in quieter moments, grieve for fallen comrades or try to put some or their nightmarish experiences behind them. Many are members of the Reserves or National Guard, part-time soldiers called to full-time duty in an urban war zone. Yet with only a handful of highly publicized exceptions, the American forces have acquitted themselves honorably in the struggle to establish a peaceful democracy in Iraq.
Whatever one's opinion of the wisdom of this war, that should not diminish the respect owed to the men and women of the armed forces who took it on, nor the obligation of the government that sent them there to see that they get whatever help and support they may need to recover from the experience.
Ellie
May 4, 2007
Most of them made it back, and mostly intact, at least from what shows. But the men of the U.S. Marines, 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment, chronicled by the Free Press as Michigan's Band of Brothers, will likely never be the same after their tour of duty in one of Iraq's worst war zones.
Of more than 900 members of the mostly Michigan unit sent to Iraq, 22 died and 45 others suffered injuries serious enough to be sent home. Most of them did or saw things for which no amount of training can be adequate preparation. Many will require time and help to readjust to civilian life; some will embrace their old routines with profound gratitude; others will never find "ordinary" life satisfying again.
There are thousands more like them, and there will be thousands more to come as the war drags on with no resolution in sight. They return from a highly charged and dangerous atmosphere to revel in a warm and enthusiastic welcome, and then, in quieter moments, grieve for fallen comrades or try to put some or their nightmarish experiences behind them. Many are members of the Reserves or National Guard, part-time soldiers called to full-time duty in an urban war zone. Yet with only a handful of highly publicized exceptions, the American forces have acquitted themselves honorably in the struggle to establish a peaceful democracy in Iraq.
Whatever one's opinion of the wisdom of this war, that should not diminish the respect owed to the men and women of the armed forces who took it on, nor the obligation of the government that sent them there to see that they get whatever help and support they may need to recover from the experience.
Ellie