- Mar 15, 2000
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This letter was posted on another site that I visit. Hope you all enjoy.
As I sit in my workspace on board the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Constellation, operating in the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the sound of gunfire and explosions coming from the TV behind me are a stark reminder that I am at war.
Occasionally, I twist around in my chair and stare into the screen, still trying to maintain focus on my job. Some news reports grab the attention of everyone in the room. While the news for the most part seems good, there are instances when it is not: Another U.S. soldier has been killed; another aircraft is missing; another helicopter went down; the crew cannot
be found.
Although this news is disturbing, most often the bad news we hear doesn't take place in enemy territory or anywhere near it. The news that most often distracts me and my shipmates from our worktakes place 10,000 miles away, back home in places like San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York.
The news I'm referring to is of the protesters. What is it exactly that is being protested? Are the protests trying to convince the government that killing is wrong? If so, I invite you to leave the streets of San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York; leave your wives and husbands and parents and children and your brothers and sisters; leave your home and your car and your job and join me, 10,000 miles from everything you've ever known and everyone you've ever loved. Come protest to convince the government that killing is wrong. Convince the government that using chemical weapons against its own people is wrong. Convince the government that placing bombs in our cities' buildings is wrong. Convince the government that bombing U.S. Navy ships while they are in port is wrong. Convince the government that flying hijacked planes full of innocent people into buildings filled with someone's parents or someone's children is wrong. Convince these governments. Our government is already convinced. That's why I'm here. That's why we're all here, because we are all convinced. Don't protest because my government took me away from my family. That was a sacrifice that my shipmates and I made willingly. That was a sacrifice that my brothers in the Marines, the Army and Air Force made willingly. Our British cousins made the sacrifice willingly.
Don't feel sorry for us. We chose to be here. We chose to raise our right hands and take the oath. We made that choice for different reasons, to achieve a common goal. I joined to protect a country I love and people I love.
I joined to protect the high-school dropout and the Harvard graduate, to protect the millionaire football player and the minimum-wage worker. I joined to protect the president and to protect the homeless man down the street.
I joined to protect you, the reader, whom I will probably never meet. I joined to protect your children, your spouse and your parents. I joined to protect your freedom of religion, your freedom of choice. I joined so you wouldn't have to.
I joined to protect your black and Hispanic neighbors and your Jewish and Muslim co-workers. I joined to protect your freedom of speech and your entire way of life. And I joined to protect your right to protest. But please, don't protest against me.
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