Dear Editor,
Every now and then, I hear my fellow college students talk about the upcoming elections and how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are either a good or a bad thing.
There are a lot of students that stand for no war at all, but I have to ask them one question – How many of them have served in the military, much less in a conflict, combat zone or in a war?
I know that I have – two to be exact.
First of all, I served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from August 1997 to July 2004. Now, I am currently serving as a reservist.
I was stationed aboard the destroyer USS Thorn from September 1998 to November 2001 and we were definitely in harms way.
The shipmates that I served with during Kosovo, and Operation Enduring Freedom/September 11th were PROUD to serve their country.
People are right about one thing – we did not ask to go into harms way, but we did, and for a reason.
We were there so we could protect the millions of Americans at home, abroad, and the millions of others that are being brutalized by their own countries crazy governments.
I volunteered, I gave up my rights as a citizen so others could be free.
The reason is that we went there to FREE those people from their evil dictators and to keep them from being killed in the mass numbers like Hitler did in World War II.
Who are these evil people? Slobodan Milosevic, Sadaam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network to name just a few.
I would also like to state that the ship I served on was a terrorist target foiled at the last minute. Every now and then you hear reports of this on CNN or the Fox News network.
Three hundred and fifty of my shipmates, including myself were supposed to be dead – a tribute marked on a memorial.
So, if we don’t fight these battles like we are doing now, then we are going to be waiting and waiting, ignoring everything around us until another Pearl Harbor or another 9/11 happens.
What happened to all of the patriotic citizens that cheered us on during 9/11?
You were there waving at us when we came home from overseas, where are you now?
So I say to all of you, if you don’t support the candidates, that’s fine with me, but at least support the cause and most importantly, my comrades in arms and the veterans across campus.
We know, because we served, we were there, and we were willing to lay down our lives for you.
Joshua Hammitt

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