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Reader regrets losing son in Iraq

Mon, 07/21/2008 - 19:56 — Niki
High Plains Midwest AG Journal
July 21, 2008
by John Scripsick
I started farming in the late '70s from scratch. The following year before we embargoed grain to Russia because they invaded Afghanistan. I'm sure that most farmers would remember by the early '80s there were more auctions than you could attend. I had to work as a carpenter in town, harder than most city folks, to make land payments and pay expenses. There was no FHA loan, so it was the only choice; but I finally got some breathing room by the late '90s. Then, Sept. 11 happened.
My son was in high school at the time. As all citizens we would salute the flag at every sporting event. I was shocked when he came home and wanted to join the Marines. A recruiter had a desk at school and became friends with my son. A professional football player even joined. My son went in at 19 and was sent back in a sealed coffin at 22 from Iraq.
In Trent Loos' July 7 column, "Get a bang out of this," he does not question entering the war in Iraq and says it is best for him as a citizen. While I agree with other parts of Trent's article, the U.N. questioned this decision and every American citizen should question it as well. Five years later I know they chose faulty intelligence and discredited ones with good intelligence. Trent Loos said the U.S. was built on the backs of capitalistic entrepreneurs. My son died so that those entrepreneurs can make more money next year than last year: Haliburton, KBR, Blackwater, Lockheed-Martin, Shell, ExxonMobil, Hunt Oil, British Petroleum, many ex-generals and admirals. The list goes on and on. Twenty-two billion dollars spent through the Pentagon is unaccounted for. What farmer would occupy a neighbor's land because he could overpower him? Trent Loos has not talked to one family directly involved that is regretful.
The young men who spent the most time with my son the last three years, said he talked about becoming a coach; but they told him he was going to be a farmer. We will never know, but this dad is regretful he died over lies. I see fewer companies buy fat cattle and grain, and less in pork and poultry. There are fewer retail stores on main street. Could a few companies also control our military--like maybe 374 votes for the war and 156 against?
--John Scripsick, Wayne, Okla

Comments

Wed, 08/20/2008 - 01:35 — darla

Remarks by John Scripsick, IVAW Press Conference, Aug, 18, 2008

My son was first northwest of Baghdad near a dam on the Euphrates River. Pretty quiet but hot. He said it was like farming when the air conditioner quits in the tractor or combine. He said it was mostly rocks and sand but people from villages would herd their goats in the hills. At night they would keep their goats in their houses or yards if the fence was good enough. Said every few miles along the Euphrates River was a small village, compared to towns here, maybe 200-400 people. His platoon was at an outpost close enough to two villages that they could hear the music from loudspeakers when it was time for the people to pray, I think five times a day. The outpost was several miles from a base with one lone tree a quarter mile north and the rest sand but he could see hills in the distance. House to house searches he noticed the poverty, compared to our country. One boy had a Mickey Mouse t-shirt on and would smile when the troops would say Mickey Mouse. We talked about the troops needing bomb dogs to search houses and find IEDs. Dirt yards but one man had an eight foot square of green grass by his house, that he carried water to, he was proud of it and took a picture with my son.

Along the rivers women would farm small plots. They would plant, cultivate and harvest them then they men would drive it to market. Heard from other troops there is more farming in southern Iraq. One said in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq he thought the people had more European facial features. One said along the rivers were some palm groves, walk inside and there was a breeze to cool off but walk out in the desert sun and there was no breeze just the desert sun bearing down. Seeing pictures of the sand storms reminded me of the dust bowl days neighboring farmers talked about when I was young. One troop said it was like your face wet with sweat and blowing a hot hair dryer at your face and shaking sand between your face and the dryer. That will make a shower feel good next week. Toward the end of his tour they moved to the Albu Hyatt region.

We should all feel very spoiled with our lifestyle compared to our troops. No Wal-Marts or QuickStops, just open markets for the people to shop. The troops talked about open markets with chickens and goats hanging with flies covering them in the desert heat. I also was told there's no private land owners in Iraq, no fences, just land open to the people who live there. I see this war as the old soldiers at the bases with plenty of food and a shower every day while the young soldiers are amongst the Iraqi civilians. This one time the young might know more than the old. I asked a soldier back from Afghanistan how we can fight radical Islam? He said bullets or force would not work but maybe education and knowledge would.

My picture of this Iraq war is many good young men suffer while a few older men profit!!