Wounded Times Weblog 4th anniversary

Four years ago I was operating another blog, Screaming in an Empty Room, also tracking reports around the country but containing a lot of political posts voicing my opinion on what was going on. That is, until I received an email that broke my heart.

A Marine sent me an email telling me he turned to my blog to read about PTSD. He asked me to stop the political posts because he was troubled by them. First, I replied out of defense. After all, working this hard, this many hours for no pay, left me feeling entitled to post whatever I wanted. I told the Marine that politics had everything to do with what was going on with Iraq and Afghanistan just as much as it had to do with what happened to veterans.

It was the email I got back from him that caused me to create Wounded Times. He wrote back, "Are you doing this for us or yourself?"

I started to cry from the guilt I was feeling. I had convinced myself that it was all about them but the truth was, it was all about what I wanted to say and what I wanted to post about. I had no intention of writing a political blog, since there were already too many of them but that was exactly what it became. I was ashamed.

When we moved to Florida, one of the things that upset me the most was that politics was in everything. Stop and talk to someone and the conversation turned political. Go near a group of veterans and sooner or later, politics had people getting angry. Down here, it's all politics all the time. It got worse after President Obama was elected and no one was paying attention to all he did for veterans and how much he was trying to get things right for their sake as well as the military families all over this country. If it doesn't fit what they think then they just don't want to know. Anyway, I was falling into the same thing I detested. Just being an American stopped at the political divide.

I made the Marine a promise that I wouldn't do a political post unless it was directly tied to a politician and them. If the politician supported them, I would pat them on the back no matter which party they belonged to and if not, I would nail them the same way.

While most of the time I managed to keep my promise and keep opinions to myself, there are times when I cannot do it, allowing my ego to get the best of me as if I am supposed to be an expert on politics when I don't know much more than any other average person paying attention.

The biggest problem in this country is people like me. I care about the people serving in the military just as much as I do about our veterans but I forget who they are sometimes. When we notice the fact they risk their lives side by side with people they don't agree with politically it should cause all of us to feel ashamed we cannot even have a conversation without getting angry.

When one of them is wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, they don't ask "who did you vote for" before they risk their lives to drag them out of the line of fire. When a bomb has set a Humvee on fire, they don't ask "are you Democrat or Republican" before they risk their lives to pull them out. When they kneel before the memorial of boots and dog tags, they do not wonder which party has just lost a vote. They think about what family has just lost someone they loved.

They manage to do it when it comes to religious choices. It doesn't matter if they are Catholic, Protestant, Muslim or Jewish or even if they don't belong to any religious family at all. All that matter is they belong to the military family and they call them "brother" or "sister" adopted into their lives just as much as if they were by blood.

They manage to put each other above anything that could divide them. Which state they call home, how they vote and the color of their skin doesn't matter to them as much as the fact they are all there for the same reason, to serve the country and each other.

Veterans manage to do the same thing. They hold their political views behind the fact they are standing next to someone else who was willing to die for this country and their buddies. If they get into a political debate, they will still hug afterwards still feeling connected to them at a much deeper level.

We managed to do it once. When this nation was attacked ten years ago on September 11, we were all united. This nation mattered as a whole nation. President Bush's approval rating shot up into the high 80% range. Congress stood together and prayed. Flags were flown from almost every house in the suburbs and cities. Cars had them flying from windows and on their radio antennas and every store had patriotic magnets to stick on the back of cars.

In New York there were gatherings of Americans from every walk of life, standing together, praying together and grieving together. Guest speakers and performers tired to do whatever they could to heal this nations wounds and honor the people lost that day. They were average citizens just going to work dying because of hatred. Police and firefighters went into the burning buildings while everyone else was running away and they died trying to save lives. Two more groups that never asked anything more than what they could do to help someone else in need, yet we, well, we turned around less than a year later and let everything else divide us all over again.

The magnets faded. Flags came down. Bush's approval rating started to sink and politics took over. People started to scream at each other on TV and hatred began to spew out of talk radio stations. Too many people felt forced to choose sides. As the divide grew deeper, more and more people turned off anything political and just didn't bother anymore. Two wars were going on but they didn't pay attention any more than congress did. Both wars were seen as worthy of sending men and women to risk their lives but neither war was important enough to put in the budget. They were funded by supplemental budget requests.

In Congress, it was all about 9-11 but the truth was the war in Afghanistan was forgotten about. No politician was talking about Afghanistan but everyone, including the media, was talking about Iraq. The troops in Afghanistan were still risking their lives but no one was reporting about any of them. What little reports came out were all focused on Iraq. Protesters were all screaming and arguing about Iraq as if the war in Afghanistan was over. Now it is Iraq that is forgotten. There is very little being reported about Afghanistan now except when a tremendous tragedy happens like the lives lost the other day.

As you can see, the Marine was right. It was all about me and not them but that was going on all over this country. While he managed to wake me up the people being listened to are supporting what divides us instead of what connects us to each other. When it comes to choosing sides, I am on their side and I will try my best to remain neutral when it comes to politics. This is and always shall be about them 99% of the time. Sometimes I come across a story that should receive great attention and I will post about it even though it has nothing to do with the military or veterans.

While I welcome comments no matter if you agree with me or not, I would really appreciate it if you could let me know when I get out of control like the Marine did four years ago and bring me back to earth. Keep me centered and focused on them. This should never become on more blog that is all about the publisher instead of the story.

If you see something reading your own newspapers you feel should be brought to national attention, send me the link and let me know. If you are a veteran or part of a military family and have something you want to say, I welcome guest posts.

As always, thank you if you follow this blog or subscribe to it. You reassure me that all the work and hours I spend matter. For those who email me in private, you are a true blessing to me and keep me going. 12,396 posts on this blog are because of the support I get from readers and we can change a lot in this country if we remember it is about what can be done as much as what needs to be done.