Charlie Coon and Matt Millham of Stars & Stripes Have begun an investigative look into how life has been on the home front has been for family and friends of the 2nd BCT of the 1st Infantry Division. I cannot even imagine to have enough empathy.
Reading the story for yourself is best, but I am going to hit some of the high points.
The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division — known as the "Dagger Brigade" — has endured the deadliest deployment of any Europe-based U.S. military brigade in Iraq. Fifty-six troops have been killed in combat since the brigade deployed a year ago, mostly from roadside bombs. One death, described as noncombat related, is under investigation
This has a large number of the wives on edge, unless you can't imagine what its like.
"When it’s 8 o’clock at night and you’re not expecting anybody to come over, and someone just comes up and rings your doorbell, your heart stops," said Krissi Van Oder, wife of Staff Sgt. Scott Van Order of the 9th Engineer Battalion.
And then of course there is the better you than me mentality that leaves you feeling guilty, and perhaps numb. This woman talks about the constant memorials
"I can’t tell you how many times I’ve smiled afterward, knowing that my husband is still alive. And that makes me feel like a horrible person," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used.
Krissi Van Oder says this about the memorials:
"It’s kind of devastating to hear taps and the 21-gun salute. Then you feel bad for whoever it is, but happy that it’s not yours. And then you feel guilty for being happy."
Keep shopping America, and supporting slave labor in your local Wally world, and obesity at your local McDonalds. There is nothing new under the sun. In a television world, the effects of this, are certainly kept under wraps. We don't let the dirty little secret out that one side effect of war is death. After all one could die in a traffic accident on the autobahn just as well as they could in a nice surreal dusty corner of Iraq as the result of a roadside bomb.