Hope Rides Alone

By Eddie Jeffers Special note from the editor: Sgt. Eddie Jeffers was killed in Iraq on September 19, 2007. He was 23. We express our sympathy and respect to him and his family for his ultimate sacrifice for us.

I stare out into the darkness from my post, and I watch the city

burn to the ground. I smell the familiar smells, I walk through

the familiar rubble, and I look at the frightened faces that watch

me pass down the streets of their neighborhoods. My nerves hardly

rest; my hands are steady on a device that has been given to me

by my government for the purpose of taking the lives of others.

I sweat, and I am tired. My back aches from the loads I carry.

Young American boys look to me to direct them in a manner that

will someday allow them to see their families again... and yet, I

too, am just a boy... my age not but a few years more than that of

the ones I lead. I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid...

because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from

around street corners and windows, and it is always there.

There are the demons that follow me, and tempt me into thoughts

and actions that are not my own... but that are necessary for

survival. I've made compromises with my humanity. And I am not

alone in this. Miles from me are my brethren in this world, who

walk in the same streets... who feel the same things, whether they

And to think, I volunteered for this... And I am ignorant to the

But even thousands of miles away, in Ramadi, Iraq, the cries and

screams and complaints of the ungrateful reach me. In a year,

I will be thrust back into society from a life and mentality that

doesn't fit your average man. And then, I will be alone. And

then, I will walk down the streets of America, and see the yellow

ribbon stickers on the cars of the same people who compare our

I will watch the television and watch the Cindy Sheehans, and the

Al Frankens, and the rest of the ignorant sheep of America spout

off their mouths about a subject they know nothing about. It is

their right, however, and it is a right that is defended by hundreds

of thousands of boys and girls scattered across the world, far from

home. I use the word boys and girls, because that's what they are.

In the Army, the average age of the infantryman is nineteen years old.

The average rank of soldiers killed in action is Private First Class.

People like Cindy Sheehan are ignorant. Not just to this war, but

to the results of their idiotic ramblings, or at least I hope they

are. They don't realize its effects on this war. In this war,

there are no Geneva Conventions, no cease fires. Medics and

Chaplains are not spared from the enemy's brutality because it's

against the rules. I can only imagine the horrors a military

Chaplain would experience at the hands of the enemy. The enemy

slinks in the shadows and fights a coward's war against us. It is

effective though, as many men and women have died since the start

of this war. And the memory of their service to America is tainted by

the inconsiderate remarks on our nation's news outlets.

And every day, the enemy changes... only now, the enemy is

The enemy is transitioning from the Muslim extremists to Americans.

The enemy is becoming the very people whom we defend with our

lives. And they do not realize it. But in denouncing our actions,

denouncing our leaders, denouncing the war we live and fight, they

are isolating the military from society... and they are becoming our

Democrats and peace activists like to toss the word "quagmire"

around and compare this war to Vietnam. In a way they are right,

this war is becoming like Vietnam. Not the actual war, but in the

isolation of country and military. America is not a nation at war;

they are a nation with its military at war. Like it or not, we are

here, some of us for our second, or third times; some even for

their fourth and so on. Americans are so concerned now with

politics, that it is interfering with our war.

Terrorists cut the heads off of American citizens on the Internet...

and there is no outrage, but an American soldier kills an Iraqi in

the midst of battle, and there are investigations, and sometimes

soldiers are even jailed... for doing their job.

It is absolutely sickening to me to think our country has come to

this. Why are we so obsessed with the bad news? Why will

people stop at nothing to be against this war, no matter how much

evidence of the good we've done is thrown in their face? When

is the last time CNN or MSNBC or CBS reported the opening of

schools and hospitals in Iraq? Or the leaders of terror cells

being detained or killed? It's all happening, but people will not

let up their hatred of Bush. They will ignore the good news,

because it just might show people that Bush was right.

America has lost its will to fight. It has lost its will to defend what

is right and just in the world. The crazy thing of it all is that the

American people have not even been asked to sacrifice a single

thing. It's not like World War Two, where people rationed food,

and turned in cars to be made into metal for tanks. The American

people have not been asked to sacrifice anything. Unless you are

in the military or the family member of a servicemember, it's life as

But it affects us. And when it is over, and the troops come home,

and they try to piece together what's left of them after their

service... where will the detractors be then? Where will the Cindy

Sheehans be to comfort and talk to soldiers and help them sort

out the last couple years of their lives, most of which have been

spent dodging death and wading through the deaths of their

friends? They will be where they always are, somewhere far away,

where the horrors of the world can't touch them. Somewhere

where they can complain about things they will never experience

in their lifetime; things that the young men and women of America

have willingly taken upon their shoulders.

We are the hope of the Iraqi people. They want what everyone

else wants in life: safety, security, somewhere to call home.

They want a country that is safe to raise their children in. Not a

place where their children will be abducted, raped, and murdered

if they do not comply with the terrorists demands. They want to

live on, rebuild and prosper. And America has given them the

opportunity, but only if we stay true to the cause, and see it to

its end. But the country must unite in this endeavor... we cannot

place the burden on our military alone. We must all stand up and

fight, whether in uniform or not. And supporting us is more than

sticking yellow ribbon stickers on your cars. It's supporting our

Right now, the burden is all on the American soldiers. Right now,

hope rides alone. But it can change, it must change. Because

there is only failure and darkness ahead for us as a country, as a

Let's stop all the political nonsense, let's stop all the bickering,

let's stop all the bad news, and let's stand and fight!

Isn't that what America is about anyway?