A 3:00 a.m. phone call every two months, an e-mail every so often, and sometimes a Facebook message. This isn’t the relationship I would choose for my brother and me. The choice of joining the United States Air Force was one hundred percent his, but not being able to see my brother for a year at a time isn’t something I rather enjoy, especially when he couldn’t even see me graduate from high school.
For nearly a decade, U.S. military forces have been engaged in combat in two far-away lands. In Afghanistan, 949 Americans have died since military operations began there on October 7, 2001. My brother recently returned from a five month deployment to Iraq. There, 4,391 Americans have died since military operations began on March 19, 2003. Many question the wisdom of our military presence in both countries. Soldiers as young as 19 have been killed in the two wars, and it certain that more lives will be lost before our troops are brought home. For me, it’s personal.
President Obama recently announced his new war strategy to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by more than 30,000 to a total of more than 100,000. In addition to the president’s planned 30,000 surge, NATO has pledged 7,000 new troops. By July 2011, the U.S. will begin withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, but the time table for completely ending our combat operations there remains uncertain. Regardless, long after combat troops have left the country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised an ongoing civilian commitment to Afghanistan.
As the sister of an Air Force airman, sending more troops to Afghanistan sounds absurd. According to President Obama, the new goal is "a complete drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq ... to zero by December 31, 2011.” Promises of bringing the troops home are long overdue, and for the family members of those in uniform, the constant fear is that the promises of our political leaders will be broken.
The surge is causing even greater stress to U.S. forces, as many members of the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy have faced multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Having recently returned to the states, my brother may be receiving orders any day now deploying him to Afghanistan.
A childhood friend of my family recently just switched roles with my brother. Seth Large enlisted in the Army soon after graduating from high school. Having been back in the states for several months to be with his wife and young child, he recently got deployed back to Iraq. Having the chance to talk to him briefly, Seth told me, “ it sucks here, and I would give anything to be back home right now.”
My brother’s route back to the states first took him to Kuwait, where he was stuck for much longer than anticipated. While in Kuwait, he and the other members of his unit were forced to sleep in tents for a couple of weeks. From Kuwait, he was flown to Germany, and after a brief stop there, he endured the long flight to U.S. soil, landing in Maine for an overnight stay before flying to Florida for a bus ride back to his air base in southern Georgia. Although he was granted a short leave, he has not been home in nearly two years. His service and sacrifice are not unique, but I cannot help but feel that they are under-appreciated. Two wars at a price of 5,340 American lives. How many more must die?
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