Letter to the President

Mr. President

I write this letter to you today with tears in my eyes and pain in my heart. You see, I’m an Iraq War veteran and I’d like to take a brief minute of your time to explain how war has affected my life. I sincerely hope this letter will affect you with a small fraction of how combat affected me.

In March 2003, I was sitting on the border of a foreign country, away from my home and without the ability to communicate my well-being to my family.  During my time behind an M240G machine gun, I witnessed and took part of a violent and destructive force that ruined the lives of many families, mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, and most importantly, children. These results occur on both sides of conflict. 

George Santayana is quoted as saying,” Only the dead have seen the end of war.” Sadly, this is a true and real statement. What those having never been a part of an armed and violent conflict will never understand is the pure evil involved in combat. Sadly, this includes politicians such as yourself, the House of Representatives, Senators, Governors, and the majority of those making decisions on behalf of the American people. I would never wish my experience on anyone else, but please understand that you will probably never have to see or hear your children cry at the death or hurt of a fellow comrade; and neither will most of the politicians that make the decisions to send us there. Unfortunately, my parents have endured this with their only 2 children; but we still consider ourselves fortunate. Many other families have been ruined by the failed politics and policies of the United States Government.  

Now our country is financially broke from unethical Wall Street fat-cats, a generation of veterans with the highest suicide rate we have ever seen from combat veterans, and still yet actively engaged in combat a decade later.  Americans are having the wool pulled over their eyes yet again with Protect-IP Act, Stop Online Piracy Act, and National Defense Authorization Act which all infringe on a different Constitutional Right that my Brothers in Arms fought and died to protect.  Even worse, the U.S. Government is continuing to make the same mistakes again but expecting different results with Iran, and unfortunately, this will yet again ruin more lives and the families of beautiful people.  

Mr. President, not only will you not be securing my vote, but these policies are driving our great country into the ground. I sincerely hope that a peaceful resolution can be found; as power is not displayed through killing, but through peace.  With the funding we have placed into destroying other countries, we could have given every child in The United States the ability of higher education, HOPE (remember that?) of securing a better future for their kids, HOPE (remember that?) for the homeless, HOPE (remember that) of an overhaul of an inept-at-best health care system, and HOPE (remember that?) for a peacetime in the United States. Additionally, The United States citizens should never, under any circumstances, have their Constitutional Rights taken from them as your administration is currently doing. This, Mr. President, is a direct insult to those having paid the ultimate price for these freedoms. I hope you take these words to heart and make the appropriate actions to these issues. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Wesley Reed

USMC