<p><a href=“http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/paynter/191337_paynter20.html[/url]”>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/paynter/191337_paynter20.html</a></p>
<p>This young man- ( and his brother)are friends of my daughters. I empathize so much, with what his parents went through, not only when he was living in Micronesia, but when he joined the Marines, and not too much after that when he volunteered to go to Iraq.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine what they are going through now after his recent announcement that he volunteered to go * back* to Iraq.
How can they take our kids- who certainly have given more than their share already?</p>
<p>I have half a mind to shoot him in the other foot.</p>
<p>Your daughter seems to have very good tastes in friends. </p>
<p>However, do recall that the didn’t “take” him - he volunteered and then after seeing firsthand what the fight involved and being given an honorable way to avoid it, he chose to go back. Perhaps that action should tell you something that just perhaps your view of the war and its impact on the Iraqi people may not square with reality.</p>
<p>FF, I see where you are coming from, but I also have known this young man since he was 11, and while he is a very intelligent, courageous, and determined man, and I don’t doubt that many Iraqis are very happy to have them there- but Im also wondering if the other aspects of his personality, aren’t also driving his desire to return.</p>
<p>Id like to see him stay in the states long enough to attend college at least- he is certainly bright enough- but obviously he is an adult- and it is his choice- he is much more informed than some who join up.</p>