Vickie Castro shares a mother's pain after stop-loss and son's death

Open letter to Mrs. Castro,

I don't know what it's like to lose a son or a daughter in combat. I don't know what it's like to lose a husband or a wife, or a father or a mother. I only see what it does to them after they come home. I pray you're pain is eased and you begin to heal the void your son's death has left within you.

What you said in this video is exactly what many have been saying, but far too few every really hear. You, as a mother, proud of your son, probably since the day he was born, supported what he wanted to do with his life. He was born with the warrior in his soul. That quality that makes them all willing to lay down their lives for the sake of someone else. I bet Jonathan would have been a police officer or a firefighter had he not joined the military or a National Guardsman. They have come into this world to defend others and that is a noble thing. What is not noble, is those who have sent them for absolutely nothing that had to do with our own security. This you know and that must be very painful above the fact your son was killed in combat.

There are some who have twisted supporting the troops into supporting those who sent them blindly. I feel sorry for them because they think they are doing the "patriotic" thing, not noticing the harm they are doing to the troops. They support stop-loss that holds soldiers long after they agreed to give the time in their lives and they find no problem at all with the troops not getting what they need when they need it or asking for proof of what they are told, or even holding any of the people in Washington responsible for any of it. This would not be bad enough if they did not turn around and attack people like you who have paid attention.

The same people who want to hold parades and cheer the troops when they come back, won't bother to write letters to make sure the wounded are taken care of properly, wounded are not forced to stand in a line that does not end trying to have their claims approved or have their wounds treated. They won't demand anything for the sake of the troops or the veterans. I see it all the time.

It must be a lot harder on you to have visit your son's grave and know what you know about why he was in Iraq, but please take comfort in knowing that your son died because he was willing to lay down his life for the sake of this nation and it was up to the people who sent him to honor the life he was willing to lose for our sake. They just didn't respect Jonathan's life enough, or any of the lives lost. The rest of us noticed this and we honor the lives of those who were willing to do what so few are willing to do. I think that's why we fight so hard. We just tend to value the lives more than the mission they are sent on when there is no need for the mission in the first place.

I often wonder if the supporters of the occupation of Iraq ever notice that no one argues about the need to send troops into Afghanistan, which was in direct response to the attacks here. I think they would be fully disgusted with themselves if they ever did. It's also one of the biggest reasons the politicians hardly ever mention Afghanistan. They wouldn't want to remind people that because troops were sent into Iraq, we have lost so many in Afghanistan.

I am determined to fight to have the warriors taken care of when it comes to PTSD because I live with it everyday in my own husband. The veterans and families trying to cope with it have tugged at my heart. You have now taken on the families who do not support the occupation of Iraq but have lost family members all the same. They need to hear you to find the support so few of the others are willing to give. They're too busy calling parents like you "anti-military" or "unpatriotic" depending on which talking point hit them the hardest. I know what it's like to live with PTSD, but you know what it's like to be in their shoes when they lost someone they loved. Reach out to them and help them heal and in doing so, like me, you will begin to heal yourself.

You will forever be in my prayers. Bless you for speaking out.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

'Life as you know it stops
'Vickie Castro's 21-year-old son, Jonathan, was killed by an Iraqi suicide bomber after the Pentagon extended his tour of duty.

Dan Glaister hears her story

guardian.co.uk,
Saturday November 1 2008
Vickie Castro recalls the moment that every soldier's parent dreads most
Link to this video
She knew it could happen at any time. But in order to get through each day, Vickie Castro had to struggle to block the thought from her mind, and keep the fear at bay. That all ended when she saw the man in the neatly pressed uniform with all the medals on his chest coming to the door.
The officer knew what to do. He waited patiently until the screaming stopped. And then said: "I regret to inform you…" Vicki begins to cry as she tells the Guardian's Dan Glaister of the moment when she learned that her son, Army Spc Jonathan Castro, had been killed in Mosul, Iraq.
That was almost four years ago, when Jonathan was serving his second tour of duty on a "stop-loss" order, which required him to stay in the service beyond his initial enlistment. He was 21 years old when he died.
Neither Vickie nor anyone else in her family opposes the war for political reasons. Her son wanted to be a soldier. But the young combat engineer came to believe that the United States should not be in Iraq. Still, he continued to do his duty and serve his country. Vickie mentions that she distrusts John McCain, but says all that matters to her now is that the government brings the troops home.
click post title for more