"They Act in Our Name"

We just returned home from a vigil commemorating the 4 year anniversary of the Iraq war. We were a small group that withstood the wind and the traffic noise and strained to listen to our neighbors as they read the letters from family members who have lost someone due to this war. We stood close to each other each, listening and becoming lost in our own thoughts. The same words kept being repeated; "he loved his country... he wanted nothing but to serve... he was 20 or 23 or 37 years old". They were each "unique"; they were each "special". They hailed from California, South Carolina, Massachusetts and from Iowa. They each came home to loved ones who regretably laid them to rest and who now move forward in life, trying to somehow fill the hole in their hearts.

I stood there and asked myself over and over; how does this happen? How do our young people end up memorialized on a Monday evening by strangers standing near a park fountain, in a city that most have certainly never visited? Who decided it was the right time, in the correct place for them to risk their lives? And why did they go so willingly?

Of all the stories I have heard of fallen soldiers, of what motivated them, of what they believed in, never have I heard; not in 2007, 2002 or 1968, that they risked their lives for the president or the congress or Exxon or Bell Helicopter. They always had a much nobler calling. They always risked it all for you and and for me.

Listening tonight to the heartfelt expressions of families trying to convey the magnitude of their loss, it was clear in the faces of all present that their loss is our loss. It is also clear that those brave soldiers acted in our name... indeed they acted solely on our behalf. If we understand that point then we must also understand that we must now act in their name. The time has passed when we rally to "support our troops". We are now called upon to "save our troops". It is time to deliver them from the chaos of this civil war. It is time to save them by bringing them home. It is an odd irony that the new "silent majority" seems to be in favor of ending this war. We must now be willing to be a lot less silent!

If you need a way to think about this war or need a way to understand your personal responsibility to now get involved. Try to embrace the realization that the soldiers are there only as long as we allow it. Think about that for a while. Then send an e-mail to your Senator, call your congressman's office or write to your local newspaper and tell them. Stop! Enough! I will not have this! This will not continue; not in my name. Because a few less letters, read at a few less vigils will be perfectly fine with me.

What do you think?