A little more than two years ago, the escalating violence in Iraq led to Donald Rumsfeld extending the tours of duty for some U.S. troops. On that day, Rumsfeld expressed his regret about the extensions but also
said:
Oh, come on. People are fungible.
And now, because of the escalating violence in Iraq, Rumsfeld has once more announced that tours of duty will be extended for some troops. And in making the announcement, Rumsfeld mentioned those fungible people from two years ago. He said:
Now, is -- if you extend somebody, is there some disappointment that they won't be home when they thought they might be home? Sure...I remember a couple of years ago there was a unit that was due to come out and it was held over for a matter of a few months more, and they handled it in a professional way and got on with life.
So, how is that going?
It was in April of 2004, that Donald Rumsfeld
said:
We regret having to extend those individuals. But the country is at war and we need to do what is necessary to succeed. What they're doing is important, it's noble work and in the end it will be successful.
And with those words, nearly 15,000 soldiers of the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment were staying in Iraq for three more months. But not all of them were able to get on with their life. There was Shawn Atkins who:
...hoped to attend college in Colorado or Wyoming after returning from Iraq, his father said.
"He was just about ready to get out of there," Jim Atkins said. "He was a good kid."
Or there was Jeremy Ewings who:
...was an independent person," said his mother, Hilda Ewing. "There were so many things he wanted to do. He wanted to have his own business. He was a smart kid. Good at electronics. He could fix anything."
Or what about Leonard Cowherd? His widow said:
...Cowherd was a positive thinker who could help any negative situation. "I really wish he was here to help us through that right now," she said.
None of those men will ever get on with their life. And what do Sgt. Ryan M. Campbell, Spc. James L. Beckstrand, Spc. Justin B. Schmidt, Pfc. Ryan E. Reed and Norman Darling all have in common? Besides the fact that none of them were even 30 years old, the circumstances of their deaths all read the same:
Died April 29 in Baghdad, Iraq, while part of a dismounted improvised explosive device sweep patrol, when a vehicle approached their unit and the driver detonated a bomb.
These are just some of the members of the 1st Armored Division and 2nd Armored Calvary Regiment that died in Iraq after their tours of duty were extended because of escalating violence. And now two years later, for the exact same reasons, Rumsfeld has announced that more soldiers will have their tours extended...and he blithely adds that like the others before them, they too can eventually get on with their lives.
Campbell was stationed in Germany before he was sent to Iraq. He originally had been expected to return to the United States in April, but his duty in Iraq was extended three months.
"He's supposed to be home now," said MacCombie, recalling that her son called twice Wednesday, a day before he died. "His last words were, 'I'll be back in July.'"
At least this time Rumsfeld didn't say there was noble work to be done.