Kids coming home from WAR

[Steel]

I just spent 2 hours talking with a kid who spent 17 months in Iraq. His name is Adam and I knew him when he was 4 as he was friends with my nephew. I left the talk stunned because when Adam would send me Emails he sounded safe and happy. Today is the first time I have seen Adam in some months. He has been home for almost a year. Adam is struggling with life and the things he had to do while in the Army. He talked about taking life and questioned "why" as Iraq's would shoot at him. He said every time something got blown up they had to roll out and protect the scene. He talked about half bodies laying around the scene. He also talked about one scene where they picked up or cleaned up baby parts. This kid was a happy, comical kid his whole life. Now he has trouble fitting in with every day life. He spends a lot of time fishing on the Sacramento River alone. He made me realize how lucky my generation was that we didn't have to fight some crazy war. Some of these kids may have not died over there but they gave up having a normal life for all of us. This is the third kid I have known that was in Iraq for some time. None of them have come home normal. Adam says you can't see what he saw for that many months and be normal. I love kids and some of these kids need our support. If you know a good story about someone returning I would love to hear it. Thank any kid you know that has been in Iraq, thats really all the want to hear it is the words Thank you. After watching this kid grow up it pisses me off what our government has done with some of these kids. They have no where to turn for help. A thank you can go a long way with these kids. If you haven't talked with any kids take the time to hear their stories. It does them good to talk about it.

[tomek30]

Funny how the kid is the casualty in this post and the baby or people whos bodyparts were being picked up are the additives. Yes its sad to see young people like that emotionally destroyed , but thats just one of the consequences of this fabricated "war on terror" Think about how many thousands or maybe millions of lives could be saved if there was no need to profit from these wars or the need to expand the empire. People like Adam are in a way the lucky ones, theyre alive. And honestly i dont really feel thankful to these kids that go there and fight these wars, i feel sorry for them.

[grzftbl]

My nephew was over there. Lots of stories but the one that stood out was the one where he was walking down an alley and heard a "click". Found a gun pointed at him from about 8-10'. Thank God it misfired. He's been back for 3-4 years and 2 of his "buddies" from over there have taken their own lives.

A cousin was over there at the same time. He got shot right below his bullet proof vest. He has recovered from the war better than my nephew. He ended up the head coach at the school where his wife teaches. Kelly led his team to their 1st undefeated season in 80 years. 25-0, State "B" Champs.

[Steel]

The saddest story Adam told me was he was in a convoy walking thru the streets when they came under fire. Adam could see a guy in a window shooting at him. At the corner of the buliding stood another iraq shooting at Adam. He took aim and shot at both targets. The shooting stopped and when he walked over to the building their was the Iraq dead with blood everywhere. He said he had a conversation with the dead guy asking him why he was shooting at him he didn't even know me. It was sad to hear the story and even harder to look the kid in the eye and try and understand.