AMAZON

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Prayers, Tears, and Compassion in Iraq


I suppose one could say I am a peacemaker. I much prefer peace to war. I shall do all that I can to prevent and end hostilities—in any form, at any place.

I have also been a soldier: a captain in the United States army. I was never in a declared war (Vietnam was ending before I received the orders that I expected to send me there); however, I know the lives and traumas of solders. I know the tears shed for fallen comrades—too many of the names on The Wall belong to my friends. This print hangs in my living room:



As a peacemaker who was once a warrior, I can identify with those, soldiers and non-combatants, who are caught up in the awfulness of war. And I am repulsed by the “peacemakers” who belittle and debase soldiers when that rage should rightly be directed toward the politicians who sent those men and women to war.

I recently received the photographs below in an email. I share them, not in praise of war, but in recognition of those soldiers whose prayers, tears, and compassion we too often do not see.


















43 comments:

  1. Wow.

    Those really moved me actually. You're right, you don't think about the emotional side to being a soldier.

    I think I might go cry now!

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  2. THE DIVINE MISS M: Thank you for affirming that this post was worth posting.

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  3. These pictures will be printed out and displayed on my refrigerator, to remind me why I committed to write a letter a week.

    Thank you

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  4. Thanks for sharing these, Nick. We are not allowed to see the reality of wars anymore.

    Awhile back, I created a slide-show of graphic photos of injury and death from the Iraq war in order to do some counter-recruitment work at a nearby college. It's not easy to find such photos (thank you very much, dear government). That project made me feel sick for days...

    I am very sorry for the suffering of ALL affected by war.

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  5. Nick,I thnk you for thid GREAT and I do mean Great posting.as a former service member as well I pray for the day that there will no longer be a need for young men to bear the burdens of war.
    I as well have some friends on the wall.God Bless for showing the human side of the servicemen. I to have cried my share of tears for a lost friend who wore our unifom of a service man.
    I swiped the picture of the wall that you have posted here it will be part of a posting for Memorial day on my site. Thank you once again for sharing this thoughtful post. former Sgt UASF.Michael J.Golch.

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  6. Just horrific. Thanks for posting these. What are we doing there, again?

    BRING THEM HOME NOW!

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  7. Oh Nick, I'm so glad I read this from home - I am in tears. I was active duty Army during Desert Storm. I know these emotions - so raw and overwhelming - all too well. Thank you for honoring these men and women who, voluntarily, put their lives on the line every day - even during peacetime - so that we may continue to enjoy the freedoms many of us take for granted.

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  8. If your goal was to bring me to tears...mission accomplished.

    Incredibly, overwhelmingly emotionally charged images.

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  9. Like you, I am against war but respect the soldiers who are doing their job.

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  10. Will there ever come a time when War is a thing of the past? I hope so with all my heart.

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  11. This is very powerful, in a peaceful way.

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  12. I was moved almost to tears by the pictures.

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  13. See there, Nicholas? You’re doing some good, like you always have.

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  14. Wow. A gentle, but very firm Kapow!

    Very poignant. Loved the song - love the lyrics. The photos remind us that we are all human. Why are we doing this to our brother?

    Great post.
    Nick thanks for all your visits to mine. I truly appreciate it.

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  15. very moving; I so appreciate everything those men and women do in the service. It is so hard to be away from your family and personal support system in a far away, and dangerous, place.

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  16. I am very moved by the pictures and your words. Thank you.

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  17. This is an incredible post, Nick. I've seen some of these photos before. I'm about to put together a slideshow of the graphics from a feature I'm doing called Thiry Days - Thirty Reasons To Blog For Peace.

    Everytime I write a new article I am so humbled by the sacrifice and suffering of the military men and the victims caught in the crossfires of hell known as war.
    It is not a pretty world today.
    We have to have hope that we can make a difference and raise awarenes.

    Thank you for this.
    And thank you for flying the BlogBlast For Peace button in your sidebar.

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  18. This is an incredible post, Nick. I've seen some of these photos before. I'm about to put together a slideshow of the graphics from a feature I'm doing called Thiry Days - Thirty Reasons To Blog For Peace.

    Everytime I write a new article I am so humbled by the sacrifice and suffering of the military men and the victims caught in the crossfires of hell known as war.
    It is not a pretty world today.
    We have to have hope that we can make a difference and raise awarenes.

    Thank you for this.
    And thank you for flying the BlogBlast For Peace button in your sidebar.

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  19. Well done, Rev Saint. Very well done.

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  20. Amen to that my friend.

    What we have done to our soldiers is appalling. As a society, we have divorced ourselves from our animal nature by projecting it out there and sending the poor of our society out to war for us. We project our own self loating on to them.

    And it is not only the deaths of soldiers in the fields that we are guilty of. It is also the psychic damage with which they live forever and the experiences that change them forever and make it impossible to live amongst us zombies who are oblivious to the reality of our animal nature.

    Thanks Nick. I couldn't agree with you more.

    If we choose peace, we must first make peace with our own shadow selves instead of a mass projection onto the soldiers of war.
    xx
    pinks

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  21. the pics are sad. my bro was in iraq for 3 years.

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  22. What most people never think about is that war is people. People fight it and people get killed in it. Most often people that would have gone on, having long, happy lives had it not been for the war.

    Thank you for humanifying it. Even if it is by showing one side

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  23. i have never known war but those pics make it very real, my thoughts and prayers are with those soldiers... let them return home safely and let their hearts and minds not be broken by this experience.

    and this post did make me cry.

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  24. Great pictures Nick...And timely. Cheers and Peace!!

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  25. You can share my graphics and videos any day, especially when they accompany such a powerful post.
    Those pictures speak volumes.

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  26. WOW (she says with tears in her eyes)

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  27. Those images made for a very powerful post, as does the video. Thank you.

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  28. Reverend Nick, these photos and the video have changed the way I will celebrate memorial day this year. I will remember the troops and not just go to the picnic.

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  29. oh how i wish there was a way to end it all quickly and peacefully!

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  30. Those are some absolutely beautiful, moving pictures, Nick.

    Thank you.

    (((HUGS)))

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  32. This is a beautiful post.

    I am just the opposite of some people I guess--all I think about IS how hard it must be for everyone over there. I don't think there's a single person who isn't affected by this war in some way.
    Hugs for all you do, Nick.

    --snow

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  33. The biggest mistake with the Vietnam war protests was to vilify the soldiers. At least we have that part right this time. Well, even though we still have war.

    Wonderful post. Had me crying hard.

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  34. They never show the human side on the news.....so sad. but I owe them a thanks.
    Peace

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  35. Excellent post, Nick. Excellent video. The vid was new to me, pics I have seen many times. As a military wife, I can assure you that soldiers don't want to go to war anymore than their families want them to go.

    May I link to you for Memorial Day?

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  36. With tears rolling down my face, I say to you Nick, thank you for this post, and thank you for your service. My family and I owe you a debt of grattitude.

    Jennifer

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  37. I am impressed. Sad, too. When will the killing and maiming stop?

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  38. These photos are extraordinary. They show a side of soldiering and war that one rarely sees.

    I am glad I found your blog; and got the chance to see these.

    Very evocative.

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  39. I have seen some of those pics before. Some, but not all. They show quite an interesting snapshot of their daily lives.

    I know I couldn't do it.

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  40. It takes quite a bit to bring tears to my old eyes, but those photographs and that movie did.

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