Our View - War In All Its Stark Reality Tuesday, April 10, 2007 An American hero was laid to rest Saturday, a day after "An American Angel" provided a new home for another courageous soldier's family. Meanwhile in the nation's capital, American politicians treat lives as little more than bargaining chips as opposing sides dare the other to call its bluff. Bravery, sacrifice, altruism and death -- the war goes on, four years after the liberation of Baghdad, and the debate has devolved into a showdown. Provide money -- billions of dollars more -- with no redeployment deadline or you're not supporting our troops, one side says. Support the troops by bringing them home from this tragically bungled misadventure, says the other. The confrontation builds. And families across the United States bury their loved ones. Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas would have celebrated his first wedding anniversary Sunday. Instead, he was honored with a military funeral Saturday. Friends and family members -- he, his wife and their 6-month-old daughter were living with his wife's parents in Walker Township -- are left to salute, to honor, to remember and to mourn. Leslie Shivery left the bedside of her badly wounded husband to accept an honor on his behalf. She received the honor -- and a new home and car, thanks to the generosity and support of the Nittany Leathernecks Detachment of the Marine Corps League and a proposed reality television show produced by a Centre County native. Where is the reality in the political debate and the level of sacrifice, personal (some families are asked to give everything; the rest live life as usual) and financial (tax cuts remain in place for the wealthiest among us while the war bleeds the treasury)? Filmmakers, philosophers, artists and journalists throughout history have shown us the unreality -- the horror -- of war. Grieving families reflect the tragic reality. Sean Thomas and Shivery's husband, Marine Cpl. David Emery Jr., answered duty's call and performed honorably, admirably and heroically. The outpouring of support -- at the memorial service for Thomas and in the generosity shown to Emery and his family -- has been inspirational. And the war goes on. Politicians play a surreal game of chicken at the peril of their influence, power, prestige and historical legacies. Men and women in uniform, their families and Iraqi citizens, face reality with life, itself, at risk. The disparity, the gulf, the divide -- it will continue, it will grow, until the sacrifice is truly shared by everyone: rich and poor, military and civilian, politician and non. Only when the reality of war touches everyone, it seems, will those who have the power to prevent the next one or end the current one, come to their senses and do so. Copyright (c) 2007 Centre Daily Times |