More on Pfc. Dwyer and Delaware Liberal

Let me start by saying that if there's one group of citizens who should be treated with respect it's our military veterans and those currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. There's not much that's more disrespectful than talking ill about a soldier simply because you disagree with the politics of the conflict in which our country is embroiled. In this case it's an even more egrigious case of disrespect because they're bad-mouthing a dead man. I simply don't understand how folks can consider this acceptable behavior.

Members of the U.S. military, past and present, are men (and women) who sacrifice and put their lives on the line while the rest of us enjoy our freedoms and live safe, content lives. These men volunteered to serve their country. I think their actions speak quite loudly and it is our duty as Americans to treat them with respect when they return home. Hate Bush, hate the war, but DO NOT hate the men and women who provide your security. They cannot choose the manner and circumstances of the conflict in which they're serving. They serve, they try their best to do what's right, look out for the men next to them, and make it home alive.

What right do you have to speak ill of a man who served his country with honor and genuinely did what he could to help the Iraqi people? You have NO RIGHT to call him a "pussy" for being unable to deal with the horrors of war. Pfc. Dwyer was a medic. In that capacity he likely saw some of the worst that war has to offer. No one comes away emotionally and mentally unscathed from on the ground combat in a war zone. You say Dwyer should have just sucked it up and dealt with it. Ok, tell that to rape and abuse victims you despicable piece of shit. There are things that the human psyche has trouble coping with and everyone reacts differently. Unless you were in his shoes and saw what he saw you can't possibly know what inner demons he was dealing with.

I know someone who recently came back from Iraq. He was a medic. When he came back I thanked him for his service and told him I was glad he made it back OK. It wasn't my place to ask much else, since I'm not in a position to understand what he saw while there.

My grandfather served several tours in WWII as an infantry soldier in both Europe and the Pacific. My grandma said he had night terrors for years. Was my grandpa a "pussy" because he carried emotional baggage from seeing the men he served with die right beside him day after day? My grandmother grew up in Germany during WWII. She saw and experienced things that no American could ever know and her father was killed in the war. Should she just suck it up and pretend those things never happened? Of course not. Such things leave scars that sometimes our young men and women can't deal with. The least we can do is show some support and respect for those who have gone through hell and back. We owe them that much.