Our American War Heroes

Ted Folkert

November 12, 2014

It was a sad event on a sad day. Maybe it was his way of emphasizing his mission of antiwar activism. He died yesterday, on Veteran’s Day. What better example of the result of unnecessary war than by calling the nation’s attention to the sacrifice of a vibrant young man, excited by the attack on his country, seized by patriotism, and willing to lay his life on the line in defense of his country – volunteering for military action two days after September 11, 2001, going through necessary training, becoming assigned to enter the war in Iraq, arriving on the scene, and a few days later becoming a victim of Bush’s war, hit by a sniper’s bullet, maimed for life, living ten years as an invalid, paralyzed from the chest down, and now dead at the ripe young age of thirty-four.

The bravery, patriotism, and ultimate sacrifice by Tomas Young, a Kansas City resident, who, at the age of 21 stepped up to the line and said, “take me, I’ll go, I’ll fight for my country”, didn’t work out so well for Tomas. After suffering tremendously from his injuries and then deciding that he wanted to go on living so that he could convince other young men to avoid the temptation to enter the military, he met Ralph Nader and Phil Donahue, who did a film about him, “Body of War.” He protested with Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in the war. She is the activist who asked President Bush to explain the “just and noble cause” that her son died for, an explanation that she never received.

Cathy Smith, mother of Tomas Young, and Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, are just two examples of loved ones who lost their sons or daughters in the Bush/Cheney wars. Of course Bush and Cheney were not involved, they had more important things to do, so they sent our sons and daughters, our moms and dads, our loved ones over there – and for what? There isn’t a thread of evidence of any good that came from it all, except for the defense contractors and wartime service companies who cleaned up handsomely. They completely destroyed two countries, devastated the citizenry and murdered hundreds of thousands of their people for some “just and noble cause” that they are unable to identify.

May Tomas Young and Casey Sheehan, and all of the others who lost their lives, rest in peace, knowing that they loved their country, had great courage, and died for some just cause, not militarily but as examples of the unjust wars of hubris, started by power mongers and fought by patriotic young people who thought they were doing the right thing. They are true war heroes.

Think about it!