Posted on May 25, 2015
They died taking Ramadi ... and now it is lost. Your thoughts?
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For years, U.S. troops — particularly veterans of America's long and costly war in Iraq — have learned the uniquely modern military skill of separating their own pride in service from their personal views about the broader "success" of the military campaign in which they're asked to fight.
Rightly so, as the long-term impact of U.S. military operations and the positive impact on American interests is difficult to discern through the smoke, haze and myopic vantage point of the battlefield.
Nevertheless, the Iraqi army's defeat in Ramadi last week surely came as gut-wrenching news for many of the troops and veterans who fought there during the eight-year Iraq War that officially ended in 2011.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/24/nine-years-on-ramadi-still-matters-to-troops-vets-families/27777735/
Rightly so, as the long-term impact of U.S. military operations and the positive impact on American interests is difficult to discern through the smoke, haze and myopic vantage point of the battlefield.
Nevertheless, the Iraqi army's defeat in Ramadi last week surely came as gut-wrenching news for many of the troops and veterans who fought there during the eight-year Iraq War that officially ended in 2011.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/24/nine-years-on-ramadi-still-matters-to-troops-vets-families/27777735/
Posted in these groups: 
Iraq
War on Terror
Iraq War on Terror
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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It seems like we all lost people there. I was just talking with a friend about this. We were there and we did everything we could for the mission to succeed. But we can't hold ourselves responsible for everything that goes to crap after we are long gone. I'm sitting here watching Hamburger Hill on tv and seeing the 101st go up and down the same hill and then give it right back. Madness. But what were they supposed to do, occupy 100,000 hills all over the country and set up defenses? The only perfect way I know how to fight any war is to avoid fighting it at all costs. I'm tired of hating myself for living, and tired of cursing everyone in a suit who sent us there. We did what we were ordered to do and we fought like hell to bring as many home alive as we could. I'll see you at the reunion and we can share a toast to the fallen. Plato said that only the dead have seen the end of war. I used to think that was a pretty cool quote when I was a young punk, but now I finally get what the man was thinking.
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SPC Charles Brown
SFC Mark Merino
Sadly only those who have seen war truly understand the cost of war and the effects it has on those who survive and their family and friends. The soldiers lost do not know what is happening now as they have seen the end of their war, but those who come home are often never really home as they have to deal with survivors guilt, their own feelings of loss, and the why's and what if's that roll around in their heads repeatedly. The men and women who have put it all on the line for their comrades in arms and their faith in their country are respected by me and their deeds are honored daily by their families. Ramadi was a small part of a large mess, and these families have the right to be angered by the fall of someplace that someone feels is, or was, inconsequential. Fools fail to learn, and sadly I feel we are being led by this type of people.
Sadly only those who have seen war truly understand the cost of war and the effects it has on those who survive and their family and friends. The soldiers lost do not know what is happening now as they have seen the end of their war, but those who come home are often never really home as they have to deal with survivors guilt, their own feelings of loss, and the why's and what if's that roll around in their heads repeatedly. The men and women who have put it all on the line for their comrades in arms and their faith in their country are respected by me and their deeds are honored daily by their families. Ramadi was a small part of a large mess, and these families have the right to be angered by the fall of someplace that someone feels is, or was, inconsequential. Fools fail to learn, and sadly I feel we are being led by this type of people.
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GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad It saddens and frustrates me.
Iraq was mess, when we initiated the surge in 2006, retaking all the territory we had taken previously, but withdrew from. We took it all back, and over 1000 US service members died in an Al Anbar. In Nov 2007 it was a different place; all was good.
Then we left again, and it seems like it was all for nothing.
Iraq was mess, when we initiated the surge in 2006, retaking all the territory we had taken previously, but withdrew from. We took it all back, and over 1000 US service members died in an Al Anbar. In Nov 2007 it was a different place; all was good.
Then we left again, and it seems like it was all for nothing.
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Capt Jeff S.
... which is why it would be helpful if MORE politicians had a military background. And even that doesn't guarantee that they would make sensible decisions. I wish that before any politician sent our boys off to war, that they would send their own with them to fight on the front (i.e., and not just sit in the rear with the gear). Even better, if they would lead us in battle so that the consequence of their poor decision making would be immediately felt by them.
Teddy Roosevelt used to glamorize war but he was never the same after he lost his son, Quentin in combat. Quentin was an aviator and was shot down 14 July 1918. Roosevelt blamed himself for Quentin's loss.
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/roosev.htm
Teddy Roosevelt used to glamorize war but he was never the same after he lost his son, Quentin in combat. Quentin was an aviator and was shot down 14 July 1918. Roosevelt blamed himself for Quentin's loss.
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/roosev.htm
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It is a microcosm of what happens when blood is spilled in support of ill defined strategy. Without clear, achievable and measurable national policy goals war is a grinding, hazy thing subject to lots of loss, and little reward.
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