September 27, 2004
The Boy Is Dead, Sir
Information is the currency of democracy. -- James Madison
Let me introduce you to Lance Cpl. Drew M. Uhles, hailing from DuQuoin, Illinois:
We like to say to children in school that we live in a country where anyone can become President of the United States. Drew Uhles will not be President of the United States. Any dream he had to be President or to be a mechanical engineer or a lawyer or to reach down and take his baby from the crib he made will not he realized, at least not in this life. Any dream he had was left behind in Iraq when he was killed there, at age 20.
George W. Bush is into high-fallutin' words, like "freedom" and "democracy," but I see no evidence of anything but lip service being paid to those concepts.
The servicemen and servicewomen stationed in Iraq are not fighting for freedom or democracy, that is, freedom here in the USA or democracy here in the USA.
Iraq did not attack the US. Iraq, despite what Bush and his henchmen and henchwoman claim, was not a threat to freedom and democracy here in the US or anywhere else in the world. Iraq had internal problems caused by Saddam Hussein. If Bush wanted to get rid of Saddam, he should have done so by means other than destroying the whole country of Iraq and polarizing this one.
But he fucked it up. Now we are into it up to our proverbial eyeballs with no end in sight to the killing and decimation ... and without any good reason. The fourth estate has not mentioned recently that Hans Blix and his teams of weapons inspectors found nothing in Iraq ... before Bush decided on this course of action, ignoring the probative evidence and relying on balderdash to support his own personal agenda and that of his father and close buddies. Bush the Lesser lied to his employer, the American people. Or to put it a different way, he violated the oath of office he took ... he sinned against his holy god, having sworn to that god on the Holy Bible. Regular people get fired for less than this debacle that he caused. Bush should be happy that he doesn't work for Wal-Mart ... he'd be gone from that job. There is still the opportunity to get rid of him, and it is more like an obligation to those brave men and women, 1,051 of them, who died in Iraq.
Moreover, Bush the Lesser continues on a course that will take this country further from the co-operation and tolerance necessary to make this planet of ours a habitable and hospitable place for future generations. The time when we could be proud to be "Americans" is apparently over.
These young men and women died in Iraq in September to fight the spread of communism in Southeast Asia help our President spread democracy to those who might be happier with a regular food supply, water, and shelter in an "insurgency" that Secretary of State Colin Powell, probably the only person in the Bush Administration who tries to be honest in spite of the gag they put on him, says will not get better in the foreseeable future:
Spc. David W. Johnson, Portland, Oregon · Spc. Clifford L. Moxley Jr., age 51, New Castle, Pennsylvania · Spc. Robert Oliver Unruh, Tucson, Arizona · Lance Cpl. Aaron Boyles, Alameda, California · Sgt. Timothy Folmar, Sonora, Texas · 2nd Lt. Ryan Leduc, Pana, Illinois · Lance Cpl. Ramon Mateo, Suffolk, New York · Pfc. Adam J. Harris, Abilene, Texas · Staff Sgt. Lance J. Koenig, Fargo, North Dakota · Sgt. Benjamin K. Smith, Carterville, Illinois · Sgt. Skipper Soram, Kolonia Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia · Pfc. Nathan E. Stahl, Mount Juliet, Tennessee · Sgt. Foster L. Harrington, Ft. Worth, Texas · Spc. Joshua J. Henry, Avonmore, Pennsylvania · Sgt. Brandon E. Adams, Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania · Pfc. James W. Price, Cleveland, Tennessee · Sgt. Thomas C. Rosenbaum, Hope, Arkansas · Cpl. Christopher S. Ebert, Forest City, North Carolina · Cpl. Steven A. Rintamaki, Lynnwood, Washington · 1st Lt. Andrew K. Stern, Germantown, Tennessee · Lance Cpl. Gregory C. Howman, Charlotte, North Carolina · 1st Lt. Tyler H. Brown, Atlanta, Georgia · Sgt. Jacob H. Demand, Palouse, Washington · Maj. Kevin M. Shea, Washington, D.C. · Lance Cpl. Dominic C. Brown, Austin, Texas · Staff Sgt. Guy S. Hagy Jr., Lodi, California · Lance Cpl. Michael J. Halal, Glendale, Arizona · Spc. Benjamin W. Isenberg, Sheridan, Oregon · Lance Cpl. Cesar F. Machado- Olmos, Spanish Fork, Utah · Cpl. Jaygee Meluat, Tamuning, Guam · Lance Cpl. Mathew D. Puckett, Mason, Texas · Cpl. Adrian V. Soltau, Milwaukee, Wisconsin · Sgt. Carl Thomas, Phoenix, Arizona · Staff Sgt. David J. Weisenburg, Portland, Oregon · Pfc. Jason T. Poindexter, San Angelo, Texas · 1st Lt. Alexander E. Wetherbee, Fairfax, Virginia · Petty Officer 3rd Class David A. Cedergrene, South St. Paul, Minnesota · Spc. Edgar P. Daclan Jr., Cypress, California · Spc. Lauro G. DeLeon Jr., Floresville, Texas · Sgt. James D. Faulkner, Clarksville, Indiana · Spc. Michael A. Martinez, Juan Diaz, Puerto Rico · Pfc. Jason L. Sparks, Monroeville, Ohio · Spc. Clarence Adams III, Richmond, Virginia · Spc. Yoe M. Aneiros, Newark, New Jersey · Spc. Chad H. Drake, Garland, Texas · 1st Lt. Timothy E. Price, Midlothian, Virginia · Lance Cpl. Michael J. Allred, Hyde Park, Utah · Capt. John J. Boria, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma · Staff Sgt. Elvis Bourdon, Youngstown, Ohio · Pfc. David P. Burridge, Lafayette, Louisiana · Spc. Tomas Garces, Weslaco, Texas · Lance Cpl. Derek L. Gardner, San Juan Capistrano, California · Pfc. Devin J. Grella, Medina, Ohio · Lance Cpl. Quinn A. Keith, Page, Arizona · Lance Cpl. Joseph C. McCarthy, Concho, California · Cpl. Mick R. Nygard- Bekowsky, Concord, California · Spc. Brandon M. Read, Greeneville, Tennessee · Lance Cpl. Lamont N. Wilson, Lawton, Oklahoma · Spc. Charles R. Lamb, Casey, Illinois · Pfc. Ryan M. McCauley, Lewisville, Texas · Sgt. Shawna M. Morrison, Champaign, Illinois · Staff Sgt. Gary A. Vaillant, Trujillo, Puerto Rico · Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric L. Knott, Grand Island, Nebraska · Lance Cpl. Nicholas Perez, Austin, Texas · Capt. Alan Rowe, Hagerman, Idaho · Lance Cpl. Nicholas Wilt, Tampa, Florida · 1st Lt. Ronald Winchester, Rockville Center, New York · Spc. Joseph C. Thibodeaux, Lafayette, Louisiana.
And in addition to these 69, three U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in September:
Staff Sgt. Robert S. Goodwin, Albany, Georgia · Staff Sgt. Tony B. Olaes, Walhalla, South Carolina · Spc. Wesley R. Wells, Libertyville, Illinois.
Debate that.
Posted by Bill at September 27, 2004 11:52 PM**no words.... so much emotion to express**
- Dana
Look at that face... he was a baby.
Thank you, Bill. These remembrance posts are some of your most important.
There are those who believe if dubya gets elected, he will ramp things up over there and it will become a blood bath. Thought process is that if he doesn't do this, it will just drag out in its current state for many years. Do you think that is likely - his cranking things up if reelected, I mean? (heaven forbid)
Posted by: Keri at September 28, 2004 02:28 AMRemembrance seems the wrong term although they are being remembered by listing their names... But truthfulness posts... Info posts... ???
Posted by: Keri at September 28, 2004 02:29 AMAlright, you can take Bush out of office just don't put that moron Kerry in it please!
Posted by: Jeff A at September 28, 2004 03:24 AMAnd before we know it, we'll be building a big memorial on the Washington Mall for all the names of our sons and brothers and fathers and husbands- and daughters and sisters and mothers and wives- we lost to this idiocy.
I'm sure that will make it all better for their families.
Posted by: lucy at September 28, 2004 08:35 AMThere is no excuse for this horror.
I see people driving around with "W" stickers on their cars and I feel like I am living in some kind of horror movie about the Nazi regime and people just blindly following this leader whom history will reflect as the worst kind of evil idiot.
Posted by: jen at September 28, 2004 09:05 AMHow dare you use the names of our soilders who fought and died for a cause they believed in. The servicemen and servicewomen fought to maintain the freedom and democracy in the USA. Remember 9/11. How do you think we will elimate a threat to our nation's freedom? These men and women were in Iraq for the cause not just for a paycheck. They belived in President Bush and stood behind him as do I.
Posted by: Someone at September 29, 2004 09:36 AMStanding behind him with no name?
Posted by: Keri at September 29, 2004 03:08 PMsomeone:
"use" their names? interesting. i guess you don't get that bill is trying to honor these people by posting their names. the statistics are not enough. these were people. young men. with families. bill reads in detail about these people, relates many stories of their lives to me, and posts their names as it seems to him that it's the LEAST he can do.
oh yes. we remember 9/11. i guess you're one of those people who can't follow a simple line of logic. 9/11 does NOT relate to iraq. read the 9/11 commission report.
we do NOT stand behind president bush. but we DO stand behind the service men and women who are relying on our leaders to use them and not abuse the sacred trust and faith that they have put in his hands to not misuse them. it's a subtle distinction, whether you accept it or understand it is YOUR problem.
we feel that SOMEONE must speak out for them. a lot of people are.
it's a constant source of amazement and wonder to me how many people evidently slept through basic civics classes. the u.s. constitution is a beautiful thing. i guess it's just easier to wave a flag.
translation into terms which you can understand: you are an ignorant chickenshit.
Posted by: stacey at September 30, 2004 09:17 AM"Use" their names? Like writing them down? Ooooohhhh, yeah, how dare someone do that?
You're standing behind President Bush, "someone"? What do you want, a cookie?
Posted by: jen at September 30, 2004 07:18 PMGah. Someone, that's perhaps the stupidest thing I've read in my entire life. My head hurts.
Posted by: matt at September 30, 2004 09:03 PMMy brother, LCPL Michael J. Allred is one of those listed on your site. I would like to tell you some of the things he and the Marines he served with have said. They all believe that we need to be in Iraq. Michael said many times not to believe what you see in the media becuase it is not the full story. He compared it to showing L.A.'s news as the news for the entire U.S. Things are getting better and we are making a difference. The media swings it so that we don't see all the good that is happening. I appreicate your thoughts. I, however, do support President Bush and our troops.
Posted by: Brad Allred at October 20, 2004 03:38 PM