12 People My County Has Died In Iraq and Afghanistan. I Wish The War Would End.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
United States
August 27, 2008 11:40pm CST
A woman who lived in Mount Holly, the next town over frome where I live, died this month while serving in Iraq.
I just wish we hadn't have gone into Iraq and would have finished off the Taliban on the Afghanistan/Pakistan boarder.
Years after President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished", people close to home are still being killed.
Pvt. Janelle F. King of Merced, Calif., died Aug. 14 while serving in Baghdad with the Army’s 115th Combat Support Hospital out of Fort Polk, La., the U.S. Department of Defense announced in a press release.
King was a 2003 graduate of Rancocas Valley Regional High School. School officials said she participated in the school’s ROTC program.
The Merced Sun-Star in California reported that King joined the Army in May 2007 and was assigned to Fort Polk in January.
King is 12th person with county ties to die overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan and the second casualty this summer.
Willingboro native Dwayne Kelley died in June while serving his third tour of duty in Iraq. Kelley, who was a major in the Army Reserves and a decorated New Jersey State Police trooper, was killed along with three other American troops in the bombing of a Baghdad district council building.
Dwayne Kelley's funeral was held about a mile away from my home at the Tabernacle Church. Because he was a soldier and a police officer, you can imagine how big his funeral was.
Many streets were blocked off. There were signs posted on all the major highways with directions to the funeral.
This is so sad. I wish the war would end.
Lloyd
5 people like this
17 responses
@Aussies2007 (5336)
• Australia
28 Aug 08
You know... if they stop the war in Iraq...
They'll start one somewhere else...
The US has been at war with someone... somewhere in the world... non stop... since 1945. The US economy depends on it... as its economy relies on the sale of weapons.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
28 Aug 08
Hello Aussie. I can't disagree with you.
Total world spending on military expenses in 2006 was $1,158 billion US dollars. Nearly half of this total, 528.7 billion US dollars, was spent by the United States. I am not proud of this figure.
It seems like such a waste of our resources when there are more pressing issues facing the American people.
Hopefully the US economy will be able to find other areas of economic development.
I,m really enthusiactic about moving towards alternative energy sources. I believe this is an area where the United States can once again become a world leader.
Thanks for your reply.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@Aussies2007 (5336)
• Australia
29 Aug 08
Do you realise that if the United States were to stop all wars...
Each one of its citizen could be billionnaire?
500 billion divided by 300 million is 1.6 billion for each citizen.
@Wyldrose (1216)
• United States
28 Aug 08
I am so sorry to hear about the deaths. I went through this first hand because Dec. 22, 2006 my 22 year old nephew was killed. He and his troop were out on foot patrol in Bagdad and were ambushed. He was the only one in his troop that was shot. Can you imagine the devastation, not to mention this happened three days before Christmas? He was to come home for Christmas but they upped his tour by four months. This war makes me sick. I wish they would end it and bring our men and women home where they belong. Enough is enough.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I am so sorry to hear about your 22 year old nephew.
Why isn't Bagdad of all places secure? It must have been really hard on family and friends.
I don't understand why our soldiers are doing tour after tour after tour when so many people support this war.
They need to enlist and provide people like your nephew with some relief.
But they would rather promote war and let others fight it.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
30 Aug 08
It's almost as if your nephew is just a number and not a real person with family and friends.
I wonder how those who really support this war feel about your 22 year old nephew who will never be able to do the things they do everyday.
When will they realize that this war was a big mistake?
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@Wyldrose (1216)
• United States
29 Aug 08
Thanks...and yep.. I agree with you.
My nephew was labeled an American hero but I wish he would of been alive to know this. The Army officers said he had been awarded his medals before he got killed but...it never should of happened to begin with. He should of been home and they never should of extended his tour. 22 is way too young to lose your life. He had plans..I wish he could of fulfilled them. My heart breaks all the time, not only for him but for the countless other men and women who have lost their lives in that stupid war.
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
28 Aug 08
My initial reaction when I knew we were going into this damn thing was "Dear God, didn't we learn anything in Vietnam". All this time and all these deaths later, that is still my reaction.
1 person likes this
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
The American people knew that this war wasn't in our best interest, but the powers that be forced it upon us.
They need to held accountable for their actions. Too many lives lost and to much resources wasted.
Bush, Cheney and McCain didn't learn any thing from the Vietman War.
Lloyd
2 people like this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
28 Aug 08
I hope they are held accountable too.
Have you heard of Vincent Bugliosi's book? Haven't read it yet, but the gist is that he wants to try the president for murder.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
28 Aug 08
George Bush and Richard Cheney should be impeached for deliberately misleading us into war, for illegally spying on Americans, and for turning America into a rogue nation that imprisons and tortures people illegally.
Here are just a few of the crimes the have comitted.
They've misled Congress and the public about Iraq.
They've condoned the Torture of Prisoners.
They've authorized Illegal Electronic Surveillance.
They've refused to comply with subpoenas.
Look what they did to President Clinton for an affair with an intern. This is much worse.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
28 Aug 08
Hi lloydanthony111,
You can thank the goverment for that, its all about oil and yet they still cannot capture Bin Larden, those people on both sides have siffered enough, why don't Bush go to the front line himself/ oh no he sits in his big house and spout rubbish while innocent people are getting killed, it makes me so angry.
Tamara
1 person likes this
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I believe that George Bush and Richard Cheney believed that they would reap the benefits from occupying the Iraq oil fields.
They saw more windfall profits for them and their cronies. They didn't give a hoot about bringing Democracy to Iraq.
They just wanted access to their oil.
It is a failed policy. No one deserves to be killed to quench our thirst for more fossil fuels.
I am angry also.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@dhisaw (304)
• United States
28 Aug 08
I am in agreement that I wish that this war would end as well. As far as i am concerned right now that the troops are over there risking their lives and some of them will not make it back home from over there. I am in hopes of all of this ending soon. also that we wont be sending even more people over there. It is sad that people are over there dying. It is not a happy thing for the people over there doing the job and for the families they have.
1 person likes this
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
It almost seems as if George Bush, Richard Cheney and John McCain don't understand the pain and suffering of the families who's lost love ones in this unGodly war.
It's now up to the people of Iraq to take control of their own future. The American people have sacrified enough both in terms of lives lost and resources wasted.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@revdauphinee (5703)
• United States
28 Aug 08
the war would end fast if we brought back the draft and the first to go were the Bush girls
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
30 Aug 08
I can't understand why those who support Bush and Cheney don't see how hypocritical these men are.
Lloyd
2 people like this
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I can't understand why our soldiers are doing 3rd, 4th and 5th tours of duty, while so many people here in the United States support this war effort.
Where are they? Why haven't they signed up? Do they just want someone else to fight the war for them?
Are they in the image of Vice President Cheney who received 5 deferments in order to get out of serving in the Vietnam War?
Where are they?
Lloyd
2 people like this
@revdauphinee (5703)
• United States
29 Aug 08
neither Bush or Cheney served in wartime combat ,if it dosnt affect them the why should they care????in this war the rich are getting richer and the rest are getting killed
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
This war has definately affected our standing around the world. We are less trusted than ever before.
Hopefully Barack Obama gets elected and once again fix the mess the Republicans have created.
There is much work to be done, but I believe we can reverse the course this administration has lead us down.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@the_ruler (1442)
• Turkey
29 Aug 08
I don't understand how people could fight and kill other innocent people just because of different beliefs and cultures
I also can't believe that and I just feel sick about those issues... why not allowing people to live and believe how they like? what's the reason to kill... what a horrible situation...
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
31 Aug 08
Lloyd, I'm so sorry to read of all your county has lost and I couldn't possibly agree more in wishing the war would end! As I've said, and I don't mean to be repetitive here but I can't help myself, two of my nephews are in Afghanistan and every time I hear on the news about casualties over there I can feel the blood drain from my face and I go weak and literally feel half sick. I always know that if it's the wonderful news for me and my family that our kids are fine it's not the case for somebody else's kids somewhere else. In my area which takes in several counties but they're rather close together, we've lost as of the last I've heard the total, well over 30 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Far too many of these have been kids that very recently graduated from high school. Some of them are basically "newlyweds" and some of them have babies they never even got to see. It's just so horrible and horrifying for the families of these soldiers and I have to say something else I've said many times and that's that when some say those of us who don't support the war or our incompetent Commander-In-Chief don't support our troops it makes my blood boil!
Annie
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
31 Aug 08
Hello Annie. This is why putting our soldiers in harms way should be used as a last resort and for no other reason.
It can't be for nation-building. It can't be to obtain the natural resources of another country. I can't be because you are mad because leader of another country threatened your father.
It has to be a declared war because of a direct threat to the American people.
Sadamn Hussein didn't pose this threat, but yet our soldiers are dying on a daily basis.
Someone should be held accountable for the tremendous loss of life and resources due this ill-advised war.
Lloyd
@suruchi86 (1873)
• India
28 Aug 08
War is never beautiful. It is the ugliest thing and a bad blot on the face of humanity. I can't understand why people fight each other. Can't we live together in peace without any grudge or jealousy for each other. Today humans are reaching to the stars and in spite of so much advances of science and technology, humanity is still mired in the battles for religious or racial or economical or geographical or whatever kind of supremacy. You can still see people fighting each other on petty issues. Can this world ever become a haven where there is no sadness, no tears, no starvation, no wars, no terrorism and everywhere there is peace, love and happiness.
This seems impossible today, but who knows, this may happen some day, if not in our lifetime, our children could usher in that era of peace and love. O God please fulfill this wish of mine for the sake of humanity.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
28 Aug 08
I just don't understand how so many people choose war over peace. And there are many people here in the United States who feel that going to war in Iraq was justified.
This is why it's so important to get out and vote. I'm sure we would have never gone to war in Iraq if someone with a level head had been elected.
It's amazing that we have made so many gains in terms of technology and science, but still revert to primitive behavior when it comes to a situation you disagree with.
It's just a total waste. A waste of resources and a waste of lives.
I hope God grants your wish for the sake of humanity.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
30 Aug 08
Until this Administration is removed from office and John McCain is retired, there will never be a new approach.
It's always "Cowboy Diplomacy" with these people.
It's time for a change in the way we deal with the world's problems.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@the_ruler (1442)
• Turkey
28 Aug 08
I also believe this unncessary war has caused very bad things to happen both for Iraqi and American people. There are also innocent Iraqis dying because of that too, and the support of USA to the Kurds also caused a problem for the people who are Turkmen raced. I feel there is also a secret genocide againist Turkmen minorities. not done by US but by Kurdish domination.
In the other hand, the civil war in Iraq killed more than the people in that war. You know, between Shaia and Sunni people. The war triggered a civil war between those two and it also caused many innocent people to die.
There are many dirty games in that war it is what I see. but I don't think anything should be more valuable then the life of human. and lots of human life is being wasted there.
Whenever I say something againist the war I have my rating go down but just can't stand sometimes.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I can't imagine what it is like to live in Iraq. This war has just devestated their country. It was bad under Sadamn Hussein, but nothing compared to what we see today.
There just had to be a better way to deal with Sadamn. Our invasion has heightened sectarian violence to a level never seen in Iraq.
Don't worry about your ratings going down. Mine has gone down also. Some people just don't want to deal with the facts.
The fact is that this war was a mistake. It wasn't worth the lives lost and the resources wasted.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@the_ruler (1442)
• Turkey
29 Aug 08
yes this is very true. I also don't like Saddam and he had many bad things in the past too, such as a genocide in halepce (this is how there is called in my language) and the result of the biological weapon is still going on there.
however, as you have just mentioned the result is even worse now...
In the other hand, the execution of Saddam showed us the hate between the civil sides in Iraq.
I just hope stability, stability for all of us. As long as we are worried about our life, and worrying about if we will still live tomorrow it will not be good for any of us. The terrorism is also getting bigger in my country and PKK is killing more people everyday now. I am not happy :(
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
28 Aug 08
Me too. We have several bases around here and my family has a handful of military people. My good friend works out of his office for the JAG helping soldiers getting their affairs in order and stopping banks that "forget" that soldiers cannot have their houses foreclosed while they are on duty, and last year he told me her really feels this will turn into another Nam if the Republicans keep control of the White House. I wish that all of the Hillary supporters that followed her up until now would do what she asked and put all of their support behind Barack. May God protect all of our soldiers still in hostile areas and be with the families that have suffered a loss.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I believe the way that our returning troops have been treated has been just a discrace. Just look at the situation at Walter Reed Hospital. It's just ashame.
No soldier should ever loose his home because he served his country.
I don't see any other option for Hillary supporters. Do they really think that John McCain has their best interest in mind? Barack Obama and Joe Biden has a track record supporting average everyday Americans.
"May God protect all of our soldiers still in hostile areas and be with the families that have suffered a loss."
I second that.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
29 Aug 08
"Do they really think that John McCain has their best interest in mind?" I don't believe so and I am a former Clinton supporter.
@jnk3dfx (721)
• India
28 Aug 08
When This WAR will end. Does this war has any end. We live in a filthy world every day WAR or something. If not war it will be some bomb blast or a Hijack or a hostage situation. Terrorism ruling the world now, who is going to stop these.? Ther older man declare the War and there young people give thier young blood. We are like brothers like winds and wave. Why these winds and wave struck together to destroy this mankind.
The day when world decides no to war, i am sure there will not be any place to cry, there will not be any eyes to cry and all those faces will be blooded only for bounderies of coutries or for a religion.
What we will show to our next generation, if we do not stop this war and terrorism now, I think soon there will not be any next generation. Hope soon they realize this will be a Fact one day, soon but not too late.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
28 Aug 08
When will this war end? I just don't know.
The people of Iraq want us out of there by 2011. But George Bush and John McCain aren't listening to the will of the people of Iraq or America.
John McCain has said we might be there for 100 years. In my opinion this automatically disqualifies him from ever spending one night in the White House.
I hope and pray that Barack Obama and the Democrats will end this unGodly war and bring our troops home as soon as possible.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@jnk3dfx (721)
• India
29 Aug 08
Hopefully this Iraq and Us wars will not extend to the other countries. Otherwise it wont be much days to see the 3rd world war soon. These guys have to understand the criticality of human race. I dont know when they do and also not to forget the terrorism, which is a worm in the present world. Its not only a worm its just like a virus, wherever it goes and it destroys everything along with itself.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
29 Aug 08
Years ago, we had this bloody war called Vietnam and the people had rallies, telling of their brothers and sons, uncles, etc and their nurses who were dying out there. The Universities were fill with students protesting, there were signs over all the places and when soldiers returned, they were greeted with cries of 'baby killers."
Well they did end the Vietnam War, and now all of Vietnam is a Communist country.
So now we have Iraq and Afghanistan, partly because of the Taliban and partly because those countries or influential people in that country support terrorism. Talk does not go any good. So if American troops are withdrawn, do you really care if certain people in those countries overtake the democratic government that is gotten in?
In many countries, sitting over the table is considered a sign of good faith and honor, but in others and in other religions it is considered weakness. Do you want America to just compromise its values? I am sure that if talk was all it took, America would have been talking. And when you join the military, you expect to die, unlike in Canada, where you expect to learn a trade.
And who killed these, terrorists who blew up their jeeps, and the buildings they worked in. The only reason they are not in the States, blowing up the White House, Time Square or the Lincoln Memorial is that American soldiers are keeping them occupied so they do not have any time to do it.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
30 Aug 08
I want Iraq to take responsibility for their country. The corruption, sectarian violence and lack of courage shown by the Iraq soldiers almost make me believe that they were better off under Sadamn Hussein.
They need to take the nearly 80 billion dollars of windfall oil profits and put it to use. They need to stop depending on the American taxpayer for all of their needs.
This is a great opportunity for the people of Iraq. If they don't take advantage of it, then the consequences they face is their own fault.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@jillmalitz (5131)
• United States
28 Aug 08
You have my sympathy. I, too hope this war is over soon. Too many people are being killed because they were sent there to do something we did not need to do. They were ill equipped and not given the ability to do what they were trained to do. Then those that do come home are not treated well by the very military they joined. Our veterans hospitals and other benefits are a sham .
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
29 Aug 08
Can you imagine how wonderful it will be to see our troops return home?
It almost seems as if this war was some kind of experiment with soldiers being the guinea pigs.
Let's see how they perform without the proper equipment.
Let's see how they deal with the loss of legs and arms.
I think the Veterans of the Iraq war have been dealt a bad hand and it's time to stop this poker game. We've lost enough. Let's stop betting on a failed policy.
Lloyd
1 person likes this
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I hear you Lloyd and sympathize. It is getting very exhausting and depressing.
Despite what everyone says, a lot of me wishes it was over too.
