Brownwood Military Support: Diverse Groups and Diverse Showings of Support !

21st Cavalry enjoys meal, Brownwood’s hospitality
By Candace Cooksey Fulton — Brownwood Bulletin

Robert Porter, right, representing the Brownwood business community and the “Brownwood Mafia,” presents Col. Gregory Brockman, the commanding officer of the 21st Cavalry, a marble plaque bearing the Brownwood Reunion “Feels Like Home” logo. to be affixed to the pedestal, presented in November and sitting in Brockman’s Fort Hood office. The pedestal was made to serve as a stand for the trophy awarded to the 21st Cavalry by the Brownwood Mafia in 1986. Photo by Candace Cooksey Fulton

For the third month in a row, the 21st Cavalry from Fort Hood, on a training mission at the National Guard Armory, “chowed down” on real home cooking.
“It’s kind of hard to say thanks enough,” said Col. Gregory Brockman, the commanding officer of the 21st Cavalry. “Every time we come it just gets better and better. You feed us, you give us gifts and we appreciate it. We don’t know how to say ‘thanks’ enough.”
Wednesday’s meal of chicken breasts and gravy, green beans and potato casserole — real home cooking — was eaten with relish and plenty of compliments from the camo-clad diners. When the Military Family Support Group learned last November the 21st Cavalry troops would have a week of training at the National Guard Armory one week a month for six months, they began a “welcome to Brownwood effort” they hoped would translate into making Brownwood “feel like home” for the troops.
Some of the diners said on Wednesday that Brownwood not only “felt like home,” the food was better than home. Members of Southside Baptist Church prepared the meal, complete with a 6-foot-long table laden with homemade desserts, and for the other meals, Brownwood Janitorial contributed the paper and plastic ware. The Military Family Support Group and Republican Women helped serve.
Near the conclusion of the meal, Brad Locker made a few welcoming remarks, explaining to the troops that the ties in Brownwood are in strong support of those serving in the military.
“We want to do what we can to facilitate making your lives a little easier and your stay here as enjoyable as it can be,” Locker said.
And, to complete the gift of a pedestal designed to hold the trophy presented to the 21st Cavalry in 1986 by the Brownwood Mafia, Robert Porter presented Brockman a marble plaque bearing the Brownwood Reunion “Feels Like Home” logo to be affixed to the pedestal.
source: http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2006/01/12/news/news02.txt
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
1st-term Democrat from New York.

Letters To Leaders
All messages are published with permission of the sender. The general topic of this message is Defense/Military:
Subject:
Can you help this Texas Soldier in Need

To: Sen. Hillary Clinton
June 30, 2005

Dear Senator, We are asking that you please see what you can do to help this soldier and his family. The following story was thankfully published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

Posted on Sun, Jun. 26, 2005
A war within
A GI's story illustrates the challenges the military faces in delivering mental health services to troubled soldiers
By Chris Vaughn
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
BROWNWOOD - Pfc. Jacob Hounshell wrote his goodbye on notebook paper, wrapped it around a photo of himself in uniform, left it on his bed and climbed into his pickup. ¶ He was supposed to be heading back to Fort Hood. But he had no plans to make it that far. He'd already figured out what he would do -- drive as fast as he could into an oncoming 18-wheeler. ¶ Less than three months after returning from a 14-month hitch in Iraq, Hounshell had come undone.
He could barely remember the excitement he carried to Iraq in early 2004. He was an excellent soldier, by most accounts, even though he was only 18 when he left. On one memorable night, his quick thinking helped his platoon defeat a group of insurgents in Baghdad.
Today, the same soldier, now 20, is wanted for desertion, a particularly loathsome act during wartime and one that could bring a prison sentence.
Hounshell's problems began after he returned to Texas in late February. He couldn't sleep, often wandering through Killeen's all-night Wal-Mart. He had panic attacks and sometimes exploded in anger at the slightest change in plans. He played chicken with other drivers on Central Texas highways.
When he asked the Army for help, he said, he was greeted mostly with indifference.
"I told them numerous times, 'I'm having problems here. I'm seeing ... [things] at night.' They didn't take it seriously," he said. "They did the minimum thing they had to do."
Finally, in May, at the end of an emergency leave, he vowed never to go back to Fort Hood.
It was May 15 when he wrote the suicide note. His mother found it before he could leave the driveway. She jumped in the pickup and wouldn't let him leave.
His family is desperate to get him help, but they have no idea where to turn.
"We're not trying to hurt our soldiers overseas, and we didn't want this fight with the Army," said his mother, Bobbie Hounshell. "But my son had problems when he came home, and all he was told was, 'Drive on.' "
rest of the story @ http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/11990650.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
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On behalf of The Brownwood Human Rights Committee and other concerned residents of Central Texas, I urge you to help this family, and our neighbors, who are in need.

Regards,
Steve Harris
Brownwood Human Rights Committee

brownwood , TX
source: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=10902&letter_id=373757776
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Congress set to OK Waco's PTSD study tonight

By Dan Genz Tribune-Herald staff writer
Sunday, December 18, 2005

Waco's congressman dubbed 2005 a "win-win year" for the embattled Waco Veterans Affairs Hospital as Congress tonight neared passage of a defense appropriations bill that includes $3 million for a joint study of post traumatic stress disorders.
Funding for the study, which would be conducted by the local hospital, the Olin E. Teague Veterans Center in Temple and nearby Fort Hood, would come just a month after Congress awarded the 73-year-old Waco facility the distinction of being the first "Center of Excellence" for mental health.
It was a distinction that local hospital supporters and civic leaders sought fervently, along with a renewed focus on mental health problems spurred by war in Iraq. They hope to enhance the local VA hospital at a time when federal officials contemplate downsizing or even closing it.
The PTSD program's funding is part of $10.9 million for the Waco VA and area defense programs in the final 2006 Defense Appropriations bill, which is expected to pass the U.S. House tonight.
The bill, which has already been approved by a conference committee made up of members from both chambers, is expected to easily pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Bush.
U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, who secured the local funding, said it was crucial as the war on terrorism continues. Pentagon studies suggest 17 to 19 percent of Iraq war veterans face mental health issues and up to 3 percent show full symptoms of PTSD, he said.
"To me, the real significance, and I've talked to VA people about this, it's a culmination of what Sen. (Kay Bailey) Hutchison wrote and I supported in the House to give a 'Center of Excellence' designation for the Waco VA, plus now, right on top of that, a $3 million research project for PTSD for the Waco VA to work directly with Fort Hood," Edwards said.
The congressman said the combination "sends a real clear message to the VA leadership that we want the VA's resources (in Waco) better utilized and not shut down." He said shuttering the 127-acre facility would be "a tragic mistake."
to read the entire article please visit http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/12/18/20051218wacbooker.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=11
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AP Enterprise: Soldiers Beef Up Humvees

By RYAN LENZ and JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writers 2 hours, 10 minutes ago

TIKRIT, Iraq - Soldiers exposed to Iraq's increasingly lethal roadside bombs, which can rip through armored Humvees, are drawing on wartime experience and stateside expertise to protect their vehicles with stronger armor and thermal detection cameras.
The upgrades are being done by individual soldiers and units as the Pentagon decides how Humvees should be changed, and follow public criticism of the Bush administration for not armoring all Humvees ahead of the war.
Nearly three years after rolling into Iraq in trucks covered in many instances only by canvas roofs, the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade is adding extra layers of armor to its Humvees.
Col. Michael Steele, the brigade's commander, said he ordered the improvements because the insurgents' roadside bombs — known to the military as "improvised explosive devices" — have become bigger and harder to detect.
"The responsibility of the commander is to figure out what we need to respond to this evolving threat. The easiest, the fastest and most appropriate answer is add additional armor," Steele said.
to view the entire article please visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060113/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_super_humvees
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Pentagon to families: Go ahead, laugh

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY Fri Jan 13, 6:45 AM ET

When the stress of the war in Iraq becomes too severe, the Pentagon has a suggestion for military families: Learn how to laugh.
With help from the Pentagon's chief laughter instructor, families of National Guard members are learning to walk like a penguin, laugh like a lion and blurt "ha, ha, hee, hee and ho, ho."
No joke.
"I laugh every chance I get," says the instructor, retired Army colonel James "Scotty" Scott. "That's why I'm blessed to be at the Pentagon, where we definitely need a lot of laughter in our lives."
to read the entire article please visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060113/pl_usatoday/pentagontofamiliesgoaheadlaugh
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Guardsmen Sue for Post-9/11 Expenses

By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer Wed Jan 11, 11:57 AM ET

BOSTON - A group of National Guard soldiers who were ordered to protect possible targets after the Sept. 11 attacks sued the federal government Wednesday, seeking tens of millions of dollars in expenses they say were never reimbursed.
The soldiers, from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, say they traveled hundreds of miles to security postings and used their own money to pay for food and lodging with the expectation that they would be reimbursed.
But the soldiers say in their complaint that their requests for compensation were repeatedly denied and they eventually were told, "If you don't like the arrangement, we'll make sure you get taken off this mission."
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that federal law provides military personnel with a travel and transportation allowance while away from home on active duty.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by four soldiers but seeks to include hundreds of other guardsmen as a class action. It names the U.S. Department of Defense and the Massachusetts National Guard and seeks $73 million in unpaid expenses.
A spokeswoman for the Pentagon referred all calls to the Department of Justice, where a spokesman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
A call to a Massachusetts National Guard spokesman was not immediately returned.
The plaintiffs are Steven Littlefield of Plymouth, Wayne Gutierrez of New Bedford, Louis Tortorella of Brookline, N.H.; and Joseph Murphy of Derry, N.H. All but Tortorella are still in the National Guard. The areas they patrolled included Boston's primary water supply.
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060111/ap_on_re_us/guardsmen_lawsuit
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Three Years Later, the Armor is On the Way

Posted by Paul Rieckhoff
10:30 AM Jan 13, 2006

On Thursday morning the Army announced that it will be ordering 230,000 sets of ceramic plates to supplement the body armor it has provided to Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was in response to a Pentagon study that determined the armor, if it had been issued when this war began, would have saved hundreds of lives.
More accurately, it was in response to the subsequent front-page story in the New York Times about the Pentagon study.
This is becoming something of a trend. Remember when Spc. Wilson embarassed Donald Rumsfeld with a question about the lack of Humvee armor? What does it say about the state of affairs when the only thing that lights a fire under Washington's ass is an embarrassing story in the newspaper?
Nothing good, so let's fix it. The way to do that is by demanding accountability from Congress, the Pentagon and the White House. Why has it taken this long to get lifesaving equipment to our Troops in harms way? Our men and women in uniform deserve a thorough and transparent investigation, and someone must be held accountable, or it's bound to happen again.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, under the leadership of Sen. John Warner, took the first steps in that process by convening a committee briefing yesterday, inviting Pentagon officials up to the Hill to explain the situation as they saw it. The result was the Army's announcement today that it will now be ordering the latest body armor for all Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, it's going to take at least a year to get that new gear into the field. To put it another way, these are conversations that needed to happen a year before we committed our Troops to this war, instead of nearly three years into it.
Earlier in the week, here at IAVA, we sent a letter to Senator Warner, asking him to convene full hearings to explore the body armor problems and demand accountability. The briefing was a good start, and he deserves credit for taking the lead (albeit belatedly), on this issue, even though his office declined our offer to send a couple of IAVA member veterans up to the Hill to offer their firsthand accounts.
But the real work still lies ahead. Senator Warner and the rest of the Armed Services Committee must not let this issue disappear. There has still been no investigation into why it took three years for the Pentagon to finally act on the body armor problems, and no one has been held accountable for this flagrant example of bureaucracy at its worst. If Congress can hold televised hearings on steroids in baseball, then it can probably find the time to hold hearings on this.
For the Troops in the field, doing your job is a matter of life and death. You're looking out for the guy next to you, if only because you hope he's doing the same for you. It should be no different for every other part of the military supply chain and chain of command. If our Troops don't see that Congress, the Pentagon and the White House are committed to accountability on all levels, then all that talk of supporting the Troops is exactly that. Just talk.

source: http://www2.operationtruth.com/blog/comments.jsp?blog_entry_KEY=20542&t=
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Note from Steve: My Letter to the Editor in the Abilene Reporter News in response to their PTSD story and Letters to the Editor that followed the story.

Good reporting
November 22, 2005

I would like to thank you for your front page Nov. 13 reporting of returning U.S. military personnel who are in desperate need of medical services related to post-traumatic stress disorder.
I believe you should be commended for your comprehensive coverage which included interviews and information from Lt. Col. Scott R. Bleichwehl of the Fort Hood Public Affairs Office, Billy Murphey of the Brown County Veterans Service Office, Veterans Administration, Amer ican Psychological Association, Associated Press, Military.com. as well as the Hounshell family.
I would like to close with this:
''Research has already demonstrated that military service in Iraq and Afghanistan, like service in past combat zones, is having an adverse effect on the mental health of our men and women in uniform. More than one million men and women in uniform have rotated through combat in Iraq and Afghan-istan, and estimates of those affected by PTSD could be as high as one-in-five. Moreover, recent Government Account-ing Office reports indicate that Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense do not have the capacity to meet the increasing mental health needs of returning war veterans.''
Source: www.optruth.org.

Steve Harris
Brownwood
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/article/0,1874,ABIL_7984_4257524,00.html
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Posted 1/12/2006 8:53 PM Updated 1/12/2006 9:00 PM

For lack of body armor, troops die. Why the delay ?

After Army and Marine Corps generals were summoned Wednesday to a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill, the brass emerged with vows to improve body armor for all U.S. troops in Iraq. (Related: Opposing view)
That's good to hear, but shouldn't it have happened sooner?
Members of Congress were reacting to a newly reported analysis by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, which concluded that 80% of the fatal injuries to Marines in the study might have been prevented by additional armor coverage. Side armor, a special concern, is just beginning to arrive in Iraq.
The armor situation fits a deadly pattern of blunders by the war's architects. The quick invasion of Iraq happened as planned, but — as former Iraq civilian administrator Paul Bremer acknowledges in his new book — the Bush administration didn't anticipate the widespread and lethal insurgency that followed.
source: http://usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-01-12-our-view_x.htm
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Clinton seeks inquiry into body armor study

January 9, 2006, 2:38 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Congress Monday to re-examine the Pentagon's standards for soldiers' body armor in Iraq, after a new study found most fatal torso wounds to Marines would have been prevented or minimized with more protection.
The New York Democrat said the as-yet-unreleased report by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner should spur greater scrutiny by the Senate Armed Service Committee and the investigative arm of Congress.
The results of the study were disclosed last week. It examined 93 fatal wounds to Marines from the start of the Iraq war in March 2003 through June 2005. The study concluded most of those injuries might have been prevented or minimized if they had been wearing improved body armor.
"With U.S. troops risking their lives daily in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, we owe it to them to make sure they have the best equipment possible," Clinton wrote to committee chairman John Warner.
source: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--iraq-bodyarmor0109jan09,0,440523.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
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U.S. Department of Defense

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release

On the Web:
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050613-3683.html

IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2005 DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Mario A. Castillo, 20, of Brownwood, Texas

Lance Cpl. Andrew J. Kilpela, 22, of Fowerville, Mich.

Both Marines died June 10 as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations in Saqlawiyah, Iraq. They were assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
source: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050613-3683.html
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read more here...

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Veterans take on new battle: run for office - 'Fighting Dems' see options in the war against terrorism
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | November 27, 2005

PHILADELPHIA -- Bryan Lentz, toting an Army-issue duffel bag, slips into the booth.
Over the din of a bustling downtown coffee shop, the 41-year-old infantry officer and lawyer leans across the table, and outlines his latest mission.
''You either have to buy into the rhetoric or stand up. I am standing up."
Lentz, who as a major in the 82d Airborne helped to rebuild the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, is running for Congress. He is one of at least nine veterans vying to become the first soldiers of the post-9/11 military to be elected to the House of Representatives, according to party leaders.
They say their experience makes them well-suited to help successfully extricate the United States from Iraq and to more effectively fight the war on terrorism, which they fear is being lost in the Muslim world's court of public opinion.
Eight of the nine are running as Democrats. At least three are lawyers. Most went to the front lines from the Reserves or the National Guard. Some have been recruited for office by party leaders; others say they are trying to get the national parties to pay attention to them.
But they are all running on their wartime experience and against the prevailing political hierarchy in Washington -- both Republican and Democrat.
They are expected to inject a pivotal voice into the debate next year, a midterm election season that is likely to focus heavily on security issues such as US involvement in Iraq and homeland defense.
''We will have a very strong voice and instant credibility," said Tim Dunn, a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and a Deomcrat who served in Iraq and is now running in North Carolina's Eighth District, a seat held by four-term Republican Robin Hayes. ''We bring to the table the experience and the knowledge gained through our service, whether active duty or Reserve, so that when these decisions are made in the future we have people who can stand up and ask the right questions. People will listen to us."
The veterans are running in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, and Minnesota. More are likely to announce as the primary season heats up, party officials predict.
Several are seeking to defeat first-term incumbents in highly competitive districts. Others face an uphill battle, including Lentz, who is seeking to unseat 10-term Republican Curt Weldon in the Philadelphia suburbs of Bucks County.
Using their wartime service to burnish their credentials, most are banking on voters' disillusionment with the war in Iraq to catapult themselves into the House, where Republicans now hold a narrow majority.
Their views on Iraq are not universal. Some believe a withdrawal is necessary. Others say more troops are needed. Lentz, for one, says the key to success in Iraq is a nationwide rebuilding effort that includes cracking down on US war profiteers.
But they all agree that US policy needs an overhaul.
''Being a military veteran is not a prerequisite for serving in Congress, but I can ask the penetrating questions," said David Ashe, 36, a major in the Marine Corps Reserve who was the deputy legal counsel to a three-star general in Iraq, and who is running in a three-way Democratic primary in Virginia's heavily military Second District. The seat is now held by a first-term Republican, Thelma Drake, who defeated Ashe by 10 percentage points in 2004.
US military conflicts have historically molded new breeds of veterans who return to join the political fray. Many of them have had an enduring impact.
In 1946, when the World War II generation entered politics, two neophytes, John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, came to define their parties for a generation. Since, leading presidential contenders such as George McGovern, Robert Dole, and George H.W. Bush all held up their service in World War II as a key selling point.
More than three decades after he was the first Vietnam veteran elected to Congress, Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania was still shaping the debate this month when the senior Democrat stirred up Washington with a call for a withdrawal from Iraq.
But the number of lawmakers with military experience has dropped dramatically since Murtha was first elected in 1974, when nearly 80 percent of members of Congress had served in uniform.
Now, less than 30 percent in Congress have military experience, according to congressional statistics.
Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are hoping to make their own mark in 2006, an election season the liberal web log DailyKos.com has already labeled the ''year of the veteran."
''The fact that so many are running as Democrats is a reflection of the public disillusion with the powers that be," said Michael Duga, a Democratic strategist. ''Who best to speak for the military on an exit strategy than guys who have been there?"
They all speak from experience. Patrick Murphy, a 32-year-old former Army captain and West Point professor, helped train the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps.
A self-described progressive, he is running in Pennsylvania's Eighth District, in the Philadelphia suburbs, a seat now held by freshman Republican Michael Fitzpatrick.
''Those in power are arrogant and don't want to listen to the experts," said Murphy. ''We can speak truth to power."
Andrew Duck, 43, is running in rural Maryland's Sixth District, a seat held by seven-term Republican Roscoe Bartlett. Describing himself as a Democrat who is opposed to abortion, the former Army intelligence officer still works in the Pentagon as a contractor.
''I am very proud I helped get rid of Saddam Hussein, but I am also embarrassed at how badly we have messed it up since then," he said in a recent interview in a pizza shop near the Pentagon.
''People say there wasn't a plan. I know there was a plan," Duck said. ''Our problem was we were told [by Pentagon leaders] we can't use it."
Duck, who served as an intelligence liaison officer between ground forces in Iraq, believes the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainee prison camp is illegal and should be closed. But he said what ''broke the camel's back" was seeing firsthand the failure to provide adequate armor to protect US troops from insurgent attacks.
Indeed, others cite what they consider to be incompetent leadership as pushing them into politics.
''We were paying Iraqis 20,000 dinars a month and the looters were paying them 20,000 dinars a night," Ashe said in a telephone interview from his headquarters.
''I had a street-level view of the failures of postwar planning. We failed in setting up a bureaucracy, let alone a democracy."
Their concerns extend beyond Iraq. Chris Carney, a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve running in Pennsylvania's 10th District, said he has seen leaders mismanage the war on terror.
Carney, who was a senior Pentagon counterterrorism adviser, said: ''I have come to realize our country is no safer than it was before 9/11. We need to be spending far more resources in homeland security than we have been."
Tim Walz, a 41-year-old school teacher and 24-year veteran of the National Guard who was called up to active duty after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, said he has decided to run in Minnesota's First District, a seat held by six-term Republican Gil Gutknecht, because of what he sees as ''the politicization of the military and politicians using them as a backdrop."
The Democratic candidates, labeled the ''Fighting Dems" by liberal Internet bloggers, say they are hoping to pool their resources and to rely on their collective power and influence to raise money and gain nationwide media attention.
''They are becoming an entity in and of themselves, almost a caucus," said Duga, the Democratic strategist.
Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, said he believes most recent veterans are running as Democrats because the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ''is seeking to find as many vets as possible to run."
He said the Republicans, on the other hand, are looking for the best candidates, whether military veterans or not.
At least one new veteran will be appearing on the ballot as a Republican. In Texas's 17th Congressional District, now filled by an eight-term Democrat, Chet Edwards, 33-year-old Van Taylor, a Marine Corps major who led reconnaissance missions during the invasion of Iraq, is running in the GOP primary.
''It can only help to send people to Washington who have firsthand experience in the war on terror," Taylor said of his campaign effort.
''After 10 years in the Marine Corps I've learned a lot about the military and the war on terror," said the Harvard graduate, experience he said will be useful for ''many years to come."
Regardless of political party, most say they are running against the current political order, which they believe has failed to collaborate on a unified strategy.
''Both parties have pursued policies of division, and there is this gaping whole in the middle where I think most Americans reside," said Carney, who until recently served as an adviser to the deputy defense secretary's office, and who now is vying to unseat four-term Republican Don Sherwood.
''Those people need to be represented," he said. ''I don't know how we go from a country as united as it was on Sept. 12, 2001, to one as divided as we are today. That is what is propelling me in this race."

Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.
source: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/us_house/articles/2005/11/27/veterans_take_on_new_battle_run_for_office?mode=PF
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From the Dallas Morning News
Letters to the Editor

Veterans run as Democrats
Re: "Warriors vote Republican," by Robert D. Kaplan, Jan. 8 Points.
Let's forgive Mr. Kaplan for his lack of foresight last fall when he wrote this article. He could not have foreseen the administration's feeble hurricane response, Tom DeLay stepping aside, Jack Abramoff admitting guilt and an escalating Iraqi civil war.
Warriors may vote Republican, but far more veterans are running for Congress as Democrats in 2006 than as Republicans. I'm one of them.
The Democrats call themselves "The Band of Brothers," and those elected will invite all congressional veterans into their caucus to work in a "bipartisan way," returning our country to the world leadership position it held before 2001.
Dan Dodd, McKinney
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Re: "Warriors vote Republican," by Robert D. Kaplan, Jan. 8 Points.

Mr. Kaplan seems to glorify the attitude that warfare is a satisfying outlet for many Republicans. He says that the soldiers are not concerned with such petty concerns as what would be the best way to actually accomplish a desired goal.
No, it's enough to fight. Who cares if we're right?
Sorry, but I do not believe warfare is a satisfying avenue for personal validation. It's unfortunate that we can't overcome human nature, because if there weren't millions of soldiers perfectly willing to kill unquestioningly for a misguided leader, warfare as we know it wouldn't exist.
Misguided leaders become a threat not by themselves, but because they have power over thousands of willing soldiers who carry out their orders. Soldiery is merely a tool that I prefer not to romanticize.
Jeremy Lyon, Mesquite
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/letters/stories/DN-3ponpoints_0115edi.ART.State.Edition1.3e6ff92.html