I have been committed to the soldiers from the day the war began but equally as non-committed to the administration. After all, how can you commit to a known liar. As the very first soldier died in this war, I felt deja vus from another era...the days of Vietnam. I had a very strong commitment to the soldiers and not to the war then just as I have now.
During Vietnam I was a very young woman, married and a baby, but I felt there must be something I could do to help the soldiers. A local reporter ran thousands of names and addresses every year just before Christmas and I worried they would be forgotten except for that time of the year. So, every day I would find some method of trying to find 3 names that I felt might not 'get chosen'. I wouldn't take the first name in a column or the last, but arrive at one somewhere in between. I bought tiny Christmas trees, personal grooming items and some bought goodies. Then, I made some homemade goodies although I wasn't an expert. The guys were always very nice about it and claimed that my cookies were what they really liked. As I look back now, I don't know where I got the money to do it as we had very little in those days. But, I did it all from personal funds and I planned what I bought otherwise so it wouldn't take my 'soldiers' money. We had some soldiers that kept writing until they got to come home or... and we never knew the end to their story although most told us if they were coming home as they were considerate that we might worry.
We met one guy who was from Salt Lake City, UT and had been a an Costa Rican orphan prior to being an immigrant. He stayed in touch with us until... We tried and tried and couldn't reach him. We wrote every day thinking may... just maybe he hadn't gotten the others. All of our neighbors knew the story about Nick. Everyone asked about him as if her were one of our family. Then, one morning, a neighbor rang my doorbell and said 'Isn't this Nick?' as she shoved a newspaper into my hand. I looked and sure enough it was Nick. He had written to the newspaper reporter who posted the Christmas lists and told him the story. He was looking for us. The paper gave info on how to reach him in CA. I was in NC so I had to wait on the time zone to call at a reasonable hour.
I called the hospital, not knowing if I would be able to reach Nick, but they said yes and got him to the phone. He immediately recognized my voice although we had never spoken. I guess he didn't get many calls with a southern accent that sounded like John Edwards. He was gleeful at hearing from us! It was joy and we were jumping up and down. Later, our neighbors pitched in (none of us had much money then) and we sent flowers, which he loved, to the hospital.
After a few months, Nick said he was getting a furlough from the hospital and he was flying out to see us. We were excited and the reporter came over for an interview with him. It was a delightful visit. After about 5-6 days, he went back to the hospital. Funny thing, we stayed in touch until he got well, then life went back to normal and we lost touch. There were other soldiers and other stories, but this was the one that was dear to us.
The day the Iraq war began, I knew I had to do something. So, not having anything else I could do, I began posting the casualties... on a conservative site. No, I'm not a conservative, but I felt they needed to know what they support. They weren't happy with me and to say the least, I have been called every name you can think of and possibly more. I posted there for almost 3 years taking their daily harassment. Then, I moved to Johnedwards.com where I do them daily or as they occur. How does Bush support the troops? It's not much, but it's all one woman can do against this horrible awful thing called war. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me...