A petty theft

This morning, I had a bumper sticker on my car that read "Support the Troops End The War". This afternoon, it wasn't there. I didn't take it off, but somewhere between the rounds of doctor's office (It looks like the womanchild has an ulcer), pharmacy, grocery, hospital (The mother-in-law had an emergency appendectomy Saturday night), and second pharmacy, it disappeared. Now, since it wasn't loose or about to come off on its own, someone had to remove it.

Now, Tennessee is a very pro-military area. We became and are the Volunteer State because of our response to our country's needs for defense. My community has had many of its men and women serve in Iraq as National Guardsmen. I stood street side with hundreds others all across this town to wave good-bye to them when their unit was called up. I rejoiced when many came home. I've stood silent and somber at more than one funeral for a fallen member of the military. Respect for the military runs deep here, and I share it. I'm the daughter of a World War II veteran. My father served as a medical corpsman in the Pacific Theater. His responsibilities included not just the tending of the wounded but those killed in battle. Those experiences prepared him to take his next job as an Army drill sergeant very seriously. They also contributed to him raising me to look at any war with extreme caution and the understanding that with humankind as it is, there will always be wars (and rumors of wars).

When we moved into Afghanistan, I affirmed our actions. They felt right, vengeful, yes, but still somehow just. We needed then and now to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. When we moved into Iraq, I couldn't offer the same support, and the more deeply involved we became, the more convinced I was that this war was wrong in almost every conceivable way. Still, our troops were doing their duty and deserved the full support of the American people and government. I've seen this support from the people, yet with every poor strategy, every instance of basic supplies like body armor not being provided, every tale of poor medical treatment, of soldiers getting billed for supplies like sleeping bags lost while they were losing limbs in IED explosions, of honorable men who truly believed in the rightness of this campaign committing suicide because to remain engaged in this war was too great a loss of honor with which to live, military backgrounds used as photo ops for campaigns, veterans with PTSD getting their careers squashed and their medical needs ignored, lies and spins to create media heroes, and more lies heaped on the heads of the public, I haven't seen the support from the government.

I want our troops treated well with proper respect for their service, their commitment to duty and their obedience, yes, their obedience. That's part of being in the military, and whether I've agreed with the war in which they've served, these men and women have vowed to obey honorable orders, and I respect them for that. I want this unjust war over. I want to see the exit strategy in action, even though I doubt I will. And I want to see our men and women taken care of.

Somehow, those beliefs which are held now by the majority of Americans are so offensive to some that at least one person thought they shouldn't be shared. Too bad. If I can't say it on my car, I'll say it here and everywhere else I get the chance.

Support The Troops. End The War.

Iraq war, freedom of speech, bumper stickers