Do not forget your fallen sons and daughters

If you haven't already seen this, check out Frisco, Texas native Alex Horton's blog, Army of Dude. Horton is a soldier back home from his deployment in Iraq and has written some great stuff about the war and how his deployment has changed his view of it 180 degrees. Here is a sample from a recent post:

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After losing two friends and over a dozen comrades, I have this to say:

Do not wage war unless it is absolutely, positively the last ditch effort for survival.I was a struggling senior in high school when the invasion took place, and I supported it. I was mesmerized by the way we raced across the desert and took Baghdad in less than a month. War was a sleek, glossy commercial on TV, and we always won at the end. It’s easy to be for a war when you have absolutely no connection with it. Patriotism lead me to believe what we were doing was right and noble. What a difference a deployment can make.

The public can do something about this. It doesn’t have to be a hopeless cause forever. Write your Congressmen, go to a rally, read as much as you can about Iraq to see it for what it is: a place men go to lose their minds and their lives. And most importantly, love your children. Teach them that war is not honorable, it’s no plaything cast with an indifferent hand. It’s the most terrible thing man ever brought to the world. My generation didn’t learn from Vietnam, but the next one can learn from us. The memories and spirit of Chevy and Jesse compel you, America. Do not forget your fallen sons.
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When this war is over, it will be a better day
When this war is over, it will be a better day
But it won't bring back all those poor boys in the grave.
-Eric Clapton/J.J. Cale