Having had a family member in Iraq for about a year, I feel I understand the pain of anyone who has a loved one in harm's way. But then I read this Des Moines Register story ...
Iowa Mom Kimberly Downing suffered through the sleepless nights of having not only her husband but also her two sons in Iraq at the same time in 2004. Seems a little unfair, doesn't it? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Her husband came home physically unscathed, but her sons did not.
"Ryan was shot in the leg," she said. "He still has shrapnel in the arm, neck and shoulder. He had a hearing loss. He recovered as much as he could, I guess. Now he's back over there. And he's been wounded again." (snip) "Here's the report I got last week from a sergeant who called to tell me Ryan had been wounded again and was in a military hospital. His unit was under heavy attack. He was shooting out the top of a Humvee. A tank (American) was behind them. The tank fired a round over the Humvee and he was injured. Two days before that he was shot in the head. The helmet kept it from killing him, but he was knocked out. He's had two head traumas in a week's time. He only got back over there a month ago."
Well, at least Ryan's ok and he'll get to go home, right? Sorry dear Kossacks. His Mom says he should be back with his unit by now. Rumor has it that his current "quick in and out" deployment looks more like it will be open-ended.
I asked the sergeant who called to tell me Ryan was hurt, 'How many times do you have to get hurt to get out of that place?' He said, 'A lot.' "
Kimberly's other son Justen was injured by an IED on his first deployment, was sent back in 2005 and suffered a head injury resulting in a three-day hospitalization. But that hasn't kept the Marines from calling him back for his third deployment, to begin in February 2007.
Here's where this Iowa Mom draws the line. She's doing whatever she can and to stop Justen, and his Purple Heart, from going back. She's written to Senator Harkin and will do whatever it takes to keep her son at home.
"I'll get down on my knees and beg somebody if that's what it takes. I just want somebody to do the right thing. My family has given way more than it's share."
I want somebody to do the right thing too, Mrs. Downing. The immorality of this war is on so many levels it just staggers the mind.