ar231

"`Top Poster`" (Top@Poster.com) writes:


(K): Lord, little George has now taken to full-page ads to ask for support
for his war? How 'bout you send the American troops in Iraq that ad?
They seem to be getting a little ticked off at their 'commander-in-chief'...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Low-Morale Letters From Iraq
HINESVILLE, Ge****a, July 17, 2003


At Ft. Stewart Thursday morning, another thousand soldiers came home from
Iraq to a joyous celebration.

And yet for Spreanna Pomroy's family, someone else's homecoming is pure
pain.

"It's the most depressing thing you can see. You want to be one of those
wives taking your soldier home," she told CBS News Correspondent Mark
Strassmann.

Specialist Nathan Pomroy, gone for nine months in Iraq, feels stuck there,
as his letters from the battlefield make clear: "I want my life back. I
have no one right now,"

"Now he has no hope," his wife said. She admitted it was very hard to read
his letters.

For troops with the 3rd Infantry Division still in Iraq, morale wilts in
the desert.

"Everyone wants to go home. I want to go home," said Maj. Gen. Burford
Blount.

Instead they're fighting a deadly guerilla war. And just this week, their
on-again homecoming, is now off -- again.

Sgt Anthony Steward is still in Iraq.

Ingrid Steward shared her husband's e-mail with Strassman: "That crushed
me. And I am really not holding myself together. I am losing everything I
have in me and they are sending us back in to fight."

For 10,000 troops in Iraq, there is no homecoming in sight. They'll serve
in Iraq indefinitely.

From Iraq, you see and hear growing signs of frustration -- even despair.

"I feel sick. Really sick on the inside. I no longer feel free," Sgt.


Spreanna Pomroy doesn't expect to see her husband until spring.

"Do you feel jerked around?" Strassmann asked.

"Every day. Every single day," she replied.

For these families, the road to Baghdad has led only to frustration.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below is a letter written by family members of the 3rd Infantry Division,
2nd Brigade Soldiers. They want their soldiers to come home. The letter
includes exerpts from two letters their troops have sent home from Iraq.

To Whom it May Concern,

We are writing to you today about the 3rd Infantry Division. These
soldiers have had redeployments held out to them and then snatched away
from them repeatedly. If simply being there contributes to the defeat of
morale, what must the denied hope of homecoming bring?

As you know, the United States Army has always frowned upon negative
publicity and family members have always been told to keep quiet for the
sake of not making the most powerful Army in the world look bad.

Well, contrary to what we have been told, a few months ago, when we had
heard of them being delayed due to a follow on mission to Fallujah, a
group of spouses, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends began
writing to members of Congress, Senators and even the Commander in Chief in
hopes that the situation would be reviewed.

We contacted the news and print media and told our stories to the public.
When the news media investigated our allegations of our troops not having
enough ammunition, supplies and food, they were simply told by the
commanding officer that it was being taken care of and the story was left
at that.

For weeks after, our husbands called home to tell us they were drinking
un-sanitary water, their equipment was broken down and their morale was
horribly low. I ask you Congressman, who should the family members
believe? An Army commanding officer who does not want the Army to sustain
negative publicity or their husbands, brothers and sons who are actually
there in the situation and experiencing it first hand?

The news media has been focused on members of the 3rd Infantry Division
coming home to Ft. Stewart. As a matter of fact, another group of 250
soldiers returned last night. These men and women have been deployed for
4-6 months. The men and women of 2nd Brigade have been overseas for 10
months now (some even longer than that). This is the THIRD time their
re-deployment has been changed or delayed, and for what reason???

We feel that the Americans voices on this matter have been stifled, that
the soldiers voices on this matter have been altogether ignored. The
following are quotes DIRECTLY from the mouths of 3rd ID soldiers. The
first is from a member of an armored division who has been deployed since
September 2002, the other is a letter from an un-named soldier from the
3rd ID / 2nd BCT who felt he should remain anonymous for fear of reprimand
from his commanding officers. These letters are DIRECTLY from the men in
Iraq, in their own words doubting their faith in this country:

I'm always the one who's positive, but I'll tell you it's hard sometimes.
At times, I can't rationalize why we are still here and that is what makes
me mad. Pretty much it confirms my belief that I am just part of a bar
graph on a power point presentation to a "suit" in Washington. My life is
a percentage of "well, we have X amount of soldiers in theater"....you
really get the feeling that the government has abandon you, left you to
rot, with no mission and no return date. But most days, I remember I'm
here for my guys and it's my duty to make sure they're OK even if the
higher-ups are messed up"
__________________________________________

To Whom It May Concern:

When you hear about heroes, you think of people whom you would envy. None
of us asked to be called heroes, or anything else. For the past 9 months
we have lived a hard life. We trained for nearly 6 months before the war
started, were the first U.S. forces into Iraq on March 20th, and were
responsible for the daring strike into Baghdad on April 7th and 8th that
virtually ended the war.

We are the forgotten and betrayed soldiers of 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry
Division, also known as the Send Me Brigade. Our Task Force motto is Can
Do, and we have been living true to those words for a very long time.

We are also the unit that is sitting in the city of Al Fallujah, as we
enter the month of July. Our men and women have completed every mission
we have been given, even when that mission kept us from coming home on
time. We have received the occasional newspaper, each one showing us that
the rest of the armed forces are returning homeeven as we are getting
orders for our next mission.

We also read the letters that our Commanding General (MG Buford Blount)
writes in our local newspaper. Each time we read his words our desperation
grows deeper, because we know that most of our countrymen are hearing his
lies about our situation here.

Our morale is not high or even low. Our morale is non-existent. We have
been told twice that we were going home, and twice we have received a stop
movement to stay in Iraq. Where is the honor and integrity the army
preaches to soldiers in Basic Training? The closer you get to the front
lines, the worse the soldiers get treated.

Every single one of my men has diarrhea, because none of us on the front
lines have had a single fresh vegetable in over a month. Meanwhile MG
Blount and his cronies are enjoying Burger King at Baghdad International
Airport (which we captured).

The 3rd Infantry Division soldiers feel betrayed, and forgotten. Many of
our brothers in arms have paid the ultimate price to help liberate this
country.

Every one of us has made sacrifices, and what is our reward? Being
treated like farm animals. We have had more support from the press, who
were embedded with us throughout the fight, than we have ever received
from our chain of command.

Our troops, and our equipment are worn out. Many of our troops have been
through some truly terrible experiences; They have been told by mental
health professionals that they need to get out of this environment. They
however, either dont care about those of us out here on the front lines or
they have been lied to by their subordinates and have passed those lies on
to the rest of the world.

In closing, all I am really trying to ask for is your help. Please send
this letter on to your representatives in congress and to your local
media, and ask them to get the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division home.
Our men and women deserve to be treated like the heroes they are, not like
neighborhood mongrels. Our men and women deserve to see their loved ones
again and deserve to come home. Thank you for your attention,

Sincerely,
The Soldiers of 2nd Brigade, 3rd ID.
_______________________________________


These letters are NOT the only ones of their kind, many other family
members have received such letters, but didnt feel appropriate to go
public with them for fear that they may get their husbands in trouble.

It may be easy for you to encourage our troops in the Third to stay
strong, to increase their morale, and to keep smiling as their friends and
colleagues are attacked every day. But its also easy to see that you are
not there with the troops. In this day and age, with the American forces
being the largest and most sophisticated on earth, why must one division
bear the brunt of a large part of the war on Iraq? Are we so short-handed
that one divisions morale must sink to rock-bottom, there to disappear
altogether? Why must the American people pay, not only with billions of
dollars per month, but more importantly with the lives of men and women
that may be too tired to fight effectively? This is illogical. This is
wasteful. This impacts negatively on our efforts in Iraq and on our
efforts at home.

The re-enlistment rate of returning soldiers has decreased DRAMATICALLY
since this effort began. Does this send a message to the government that
the soldiers feel abandoned by their country?

That they have lost their faith in the government they've worked so hard to
defend? The soldiers and their families will have their say in the 2004
elections and THEN will make their voices heard!

In closing, we would like to say that these men and women of the 3rd
Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade have done their job and done it well. They
are mentally, physically AND emotionally exhausted. These men have had
their promise of re-deployment ripped out from under them numerous times,
and its because of that, their morale is non-existent. We NEED to send
these heroes home for a much needed and deserved break.

As the saying goes: If not for the Home of the Brave, There would be no
Land of the Free. What makes our nation so great is our ability and
constitutional right to have a government for the people, by the people.
These brave men and women and the people who love them have a choice, and
our voices will be heard. If not now, in the 2004 elections.


Sincerely,
The wives, mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, sons, daughters and family
members of the 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade Soldiers

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for that son of a Bush!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

`top poster`

KAREN THE POST YOU ARE REPLYING TO IS A FAKE BY WANKER

--
Socrates taught his students that the pursuit of truth can only begin once
they start to question and ****yze every belief that they ever held dear. If
a certain belief passes the tests of evidence, deduction, and logic, it
should be kept. If it doesn't, the belief should not only be discarded, but
the thinker must also then question why he was led to believe the erroneous

`top poster`

Dont worry karen when they are victorious George Bush will once again be
popular his war on terrorism needs our support he is after all the greatest
president that ever ruled the greatest country in the world they killed the
hussain twins that is a good thing

--

Socrates taught his students that the pursuit of truth can only begin once
they start to question and ****yze every belief that they ever held dear. If
a certain belief passes the tests of evidence, deduction, and logic, it
should be kept. If it doesn't, the belief should not only be discarded, but
the thinker must also then question why he was led to believe the erroneous


'commander-in-chief'...

`top poster`

HAVING FUN WANKER

--
Socrates taught his students that the pursuit of truth can only begin once
they start to question and ****yze every belief that they ever held dear. If
a certain belief passes the tests of evidence, deduction, and logic, it
should be kept. If it doesn't, the belief should not only be discarded, but
the thinker must also then question why he was led to believe the erroneous


support

ar231

"`Top Poster`" (Top@Poster.com) writes:


(K): S'okay.... s'okay .... Just gave me another chance to show up the
whining that Americans do after they volunteer for war duty and then
have to stay in the country they attacked longer than they wanted.

("Wanker"? Really? Can't he find a girlfriend?)
_________________________________


(K): Lord, little George has now taken to full-page ads to ask for support

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for that son of a Bush!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

whiningsoldiers

On 26 Jul 2003 23:50:35 GMT, ar231@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Karen Gordon)


Americans aren't the only ones whining. The Canadians do the same
whenever they are deployed. I really get sick of seeing all the
coverage of families crying and carrying on because their soldier is
being deployed. Boo hoo hoo. Guess what? That's what soldiers do.
If they can't handle it, they shouldn't have signed up, and their
spouses shouldn't have married them. They should act like soldiers,
not whining wimps. Ditto for their families, who play right into the
hands of people like Osama who say "Americans can't take it."

sharon

Military has much to do with brainwashing young men to die for their country. This has
been going on for centuries all over the world. Sadly countries do need ready and willing
military forces to defend the home land, but it is refreshing to see that US troops can
still exercise some independent thinking and hold their commander-in-chief accountable.

You have my support gentlemen.

the voice of reason

Most of the world is supporting America in it's struggle to lift the bonds
of Fascism and remove the incompetent and mendaceous liar that has taken a
dictatorial control of the nation. The danger to America is clearly from
within and they can do no more than hope the Americans can return to the
foundation of their nation, eliminating the legistlation that has gutteed
civil rights and holding the criminal administration up to the light of
justice.

steve

Karen Gordon allegedly said:


He's two-timing.

--
Steve

steve

WhiningSoldiers@canada.com allegedly said:

Getting killed is a serious event in your life.

Use you head.

--
Steve