May 26, 2005

I'm Happy My Children Have the Gifts of the USA

I, innocently enough, looked around the Internet tonight trying to get inspired to put a post up, but was not having a lot of success until I found this piece here, put out by Combined Forces Command Afghanistan:

Afghan children and local police led Coalition forces to three rockets and a missile May 24 near the town of Bamian.

The children reported the location of a cache consisting of a rocket-propelled grenade, three mortars and approximately 40 small-arms rounds to New Zealand soldiers working at a Provisional Reconstruction Team site near Bamian.

"These children were doing the right thing by reporting these munitions to Coalition forces," U.S. Army Maj. Michael Hicks,

As the children took Coalition forces to the cache, local police also led the soldiers to another area where three serviceable rockets and a surface-to-surface Russian-built missile were discovered.

"These children were doing the right thing by reporting these munitions to Coalition forces," said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Hicks, commander of Combined Joint Task Force-76's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team.

"We cannot do enough to remind parents and children that unexploded ordnance is dangerous and deadly. These items explode every day, killing and maiming Afghans."

"The most important thing children should remember if they discover unexploded ordnance is to not touch it and tell a grown-up," Hicks said. "Adults should immediately notify local police or Afghan and Coalition forces."

The cache, missile and rockets were transported to a nearby base where they will be destroyed.

Meanwhile, at a border-control point along the Pakistan border, an artillery round was discovered hidden inside a tree trunk after an Afghan child reported its location to forces there. Afghan forces safely destroyed the round.

Shouldn't we count our blessings every day that we live in a country that affords our children the very precious rights of freedom?  I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday, but when I look around me, people seem to be more concerned about Paris Hilton, American Idol, gas prices, and how much it will cost to put the kids in daycare for the summer.  We tend to forget that we have men and women of the armed forces overseas fighting for the same freedoms and liberties that so often are taken for granted here.  We should be reminded of their bravery every day, but instead we are subjected to lines of crap put out by journalists who want "the story" or think it's okay to get "creative" with their reporting (and causing riots and mayhem).

When I read the aforementioned story, my day-to-day concerns paled in comparison.  So what if I'm tired, at least I have a bed.  Who cares if I had a rough day at work, at least I have enough money to truly "live."  So, it's my son's last day of school tomorrow - at least he *can* go to school and doesn't have to be on the watch-out for weapons buried in the sand. 

These Afghan children, while in a much safer and more livable environment than they had been during Taliban rule, face each day with concerns that many of us Americans would never even be able to comprehend.  Did you ever walk to school and uncover a weapons cache? 

I so admire the bravery and the tenacity of children in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.  I imagine that the challenges they face now will help to build them into the leaders those regions need to bring peace and freedom to countries that had been truly demoralized and held in fear by vicious leaders who had no qualms about slaying people for their own perverted pleasures.  Things that we have taken for granted brings the greatest joy to these children - oh, for my children to be in awe of something as simple as paper and pencils!

As a nation, we should be proud that we are contributing to something as great as helping other nations procure freedom.  It is not shameful, it is not a waste of time and it is not an atrocity.  It should not be a political bargaining chip and it should not be taken lightly.  I am personally grateful for the freedoms we have - so we *can* worry about Paris Hilton, American Idol, the price of gas, and the end of the school year...and thanks to the bravery of our men and women in uniform, I am comfortable in my belief that I will wake up tomorrow with those freedoms intact.

Update:  Chris of Two Babes and a Brain, pointed me to a story of an Iraqi girl, named Maria, who was seriously burned while lighting a stove.  American troops took care of the girl and helped her get on a road to recovery.  Please take a look at her story, one of strength, persistence and a true demonstration of the compassion our troops have for the Iraqi people.  Thanks, Chris!