Supporting Our Heroes
By Eric Thompson of POWERKICKS

I'd like to talk about the war in Iraq. Having been a combat veteran in over 10 missions, I have a little experience. However I wouldn’t compare my experience to my grandfather and his generation who fought in WWII. There is a picture at my grandparents' house of my grandmother holding my aunt. It is a little torn because my grandfather had it in his fighting hole in Guadalcanal during WWII. He didn’t get to see her 'till she was almost two years old. Can you imagine going through that? How do you keep going, when day after day you are away from your family with no reunion in sight. For the first time since I have been discharged from the Marine Corps, I get to sit back and watch someone else fight a war. How do I feel about it? Very proud of our military and I will tell you, watching the news brings back memories of crossing the Kuwaiti border during Desert Storm and storming the beaches of Somalia in 1993. Of course the news isn’t showing everything, but I will tell you what you are seeing is the closest you want to come to the real thing. One thing the news can't show is the soldiers' emotions. Anyone who has gone through combat knows what I am talking about.

So why am I writing this in a magazine like Maggie and not Soldier of Fortune? Because almost all of us know someone that is over there. Many of you have sons and daughters that are there. My best friend and the first person I ever promoted to black belt is there. In a couple of weeks I am going to his wife's house to cut grass and clean their garage. That’s what friends do to support each other. If you know someone who’s husband or wife has deployed, any support you can give will be more appreciated than you can imagine. One thing that always kept my unit's morale high was seeing the support our country gave us. When I saw protestors it just made me so mad but then I thought this is what I am fighting for; so everyone can have an opinion and a voice. I urge everyone to send a package to someone they know. If you don’t know someone go to the recruiting offices and ask for instructions. I guarantee if you take the time to write a letter, they will write back. I got a letter from a second grader in Michigan. Can you imagine how I felt when I read it and she said she misses us and wants us to hurry up and come home safely and that her daddy was a Marine when he was alive. I want to cry just thinking about it.
Whether you are for or against the war doesn’t matter. But supporting our troops should be something every American should do. No one wants to go to combat and kill; from my experience the ones that said that were the ones that were really scared. The Marines I know felt horrible and still have a hard time dealing with it. I know from experience. In
closing I would like to say we live in the greatest country in the world. No one has the freedom we do. Any one who says any different has never been to another country. No matter what race, sex or religion we all are, we can proudly say we are all Americans. Sure we have our problems. But I'd rather get a photo of me running a red light on Rt. 13 and get a ticket then get killed for speaking out against our leaders. (No I didn’t get a ticket, I ve just been reading The Grapevine lately.)

If you want to send mail... Due to security needs, the "Any Soldier" mail programs have been discontinued but our troops' need for support continues. Please visit the following internet sites for information on how you can support our military forces, or go to www.maggiemagazine.com for links and for locations of weekly local support opporunities.

1. Adopt a Platoon: http://adoptaplatoon.org
2. Operation Uplink - request a phone card: www.operationuplink.org/request.cfm
3. Enduring Freedom: http://mfrc.calib.com/Enduring_Freedom/index.htm