Eric Arseneau's Weblog

This is totally off topic for technical stuff, but I really had to share my thoughts on an event I attended today.

I attended the Change of Command Ceremony for the Marine All Wheather Fighter Attack Squadron 121/Green Knights. I am not a person who is really for war, however something came to light today that I really wanted to share. The key thought I had was that ware involves people, however obvious that may sound, until you really get close to some of these people and what their lives are like, I think it is very dificult to understand some of the implications.

I saw an impressive display of dedication and of course REALLY cool planes today. I had TWO F/A-18 Attack Hornets take off about two 400 feet away form you is quite an impressive display of power and NOISE. The traditions involved in this ceremony were very evident, but also seemed to make sense even for an outsider such as myself.

In all of the discussions I have seen from the two sides, those for and those against the war, I have yet to see anyone address the following facts and their importance:

1) The decision to go to war was made my a few key people. So arguing pros and cons and reasons for going to war should be had with these people, and not the people who are "doing" the war. You think it was a bad decision, blame President Bush, not the people who are doing the war.

2) The people doing the war are in a situation where their commander in chief, the President, has decided that we should go to war. These people are doing what they been commanded to do. Blaming them for the war just does not make any sense to me. Blaming the President, yes, the people doing there jobs, NO !!! These are people doing their best of a bad situation. I now believe that having a "Support our troups" sticker on my car is a very appropriate thing to do. I would go one step further and have an additional sticker that would indicate my feelings about the war itself. The two are totally distinct issues.

3) The people who go to war, have a family's at home. Family's that must persevere through a lot worry and support for their "warriors". Having their loved ones purposefully in harms way must take a very strong person to handle the worries every day. I am very impressed not just with the people doing the war, but the people back home who keep their lives and homes together for the eventual return of their loved ones. Providing support for the people back home I think is just as important as supporting the warriors. They may not be in harms way, but they have to deal with the implications of having their loved ones in harms way.

I hope this did not come out as a political discussion. It is the warriors and their family that I am writing about. The choice of going to war, right or wrong, is/was not my intent here.

Lets SUPPORT our TROUPS !!! Then figure out what we want to do with our thoughts on the rightness or wrongness of war.

Comments:

OOH RAH Eric. I wished more people felt the way you do. I happen to agree with the war; but, that is not the reason for my writing. As a former Marine and a former member of the squadron you wrote about, there is a great history with this squadron. I was with VMA (AW) 121 in the early 80's when we were an A-6 squadron. I was with them when they achieved 45,000 and again when they achieved 55,000 accident free flight hours. This squadron has always been a proud and dedicated group of Marines. I totally agree with your blog in that we should support our troops. They did not create the war. Sincerely, Todd Bennett

Posted by Todd Bennett on August 13, 2006 at 10:16 AM PDT #

Eric Arseneau's Weblog

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