------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/jyXolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
To Whom it May Concern,
I found out that my brother, Sergeant Ryan M.
Campbell, was dead during a graduate seminar at
Emory University on April 29, 2004. Immediately
after a uniformed officer knocked at my mother's
door to deliver the message that broke her heart,
she called me on my cell phone. She could say
nothing but "He's gone." I could say nothing but
"No." Over and over again we chanted this refrain
to each other over the phone as I made my way
across the country to hold her as she wept.
I had made the very same trip in February,
cutting classes to spend my brother's two weeks'
leave from Baghdad with him. Little did I know
then that the next time I saw him would be at
Arlington National Cemetery. During those days in
February, my brother shared with me his fear, his
disillusionment, and his anger. "We had all been
led to believe that Iraq posed a serious threat
to America as well as its surrounding nations,"
he said. "We invaded expecting to find weapons of
mass destruction and a much more prepared and
well-trained Republican Guard waiting for us. It
is now a year later, and alas, no weapons of mass
destruction or any other real threat, for that
matter."
Ryan was scheduled to complete his one-year
assignment to Iraq on April 25. But on April 11,
he emailed me to let me know not to expect him in
Atlanta for a May visit, because his tour of duty
had been involuntarily extended. "Just do me one
big favor, ok?" he wrote. "Don't vote for Bush.
No. Just don't do it. I would not be happy with
you."
Last night, I listened to George W. Bush's
live, televised speech at the Republican National
Convention. He spoke to me and my family when he
announced, "I have met with parents and wives and
husbands who have received a folded flag, and
said a final goodbye to a soldier they loved. I
am awed that so many have used those meetings to
say that I am in their prayers and to offer
encouragement to me. Where does strength like
that come from? How can people so burdened with
sorrow also feel such pride? It is because they
know their loved one was last seen doing good.
Because they know that liberty was precious to
the one they lost. And in those military
families, I have seen the character of a great
nation: decent, and idealistic, and strong."
This is my reply: Mr. President, I know that
you probably still "don't do body counts," so you
may not know that almost one thousand U.S. troops
have died doing what you told them they had to do
to protect America. Ryan was Number 832. Liberty
was, indeed, precious to the one I lost-- so
precious that he would rather have gone to prison
than back to Iraq in February. Like you, I don't
know where the strength for "such pride" on the
part of people "so burdened with sorrow" comes
from; maybe I spent it all holding my mother as
she wept. I last saw my loved one at the Kansas
City airport, staring after me as I walked away.
I could see April 29 written on his sad,
sand-chapped and sunburned face. I could see that
he desperately wanted to believe that if he died,
it would be while "doing good," as you put it. He
wanted us to be able to be proud of him. Mr.
President, you gave me and my mother a folded
flag instead of the beautiful boy who called us
"Moms" and "Brookster." But worse than that, you
sold my little brother a bill of goods. Not only
did you cheat him of a long meaningful life, but
you cheated him of a meaningful death. You are in
my prayers, Mr. President, because I think that
you need them more than anyone on the face of the
planet. But you will never get my vote.
So to whom it may concern: Don't vote for
Bush. No. Just don't do it. I would not be happy
with you.
Sincerely,
Brooke M. Campbell
Atlanta, GA
------------------------------------------------
Kirksville, Missouri - A soldier from
northeast Missouri was among eight killed April
29, 2004, in a car bombing in Iraq, the U.S.
Department of Defense said Monday.
Sergeant Ryan M. Campbell, 25, of Kirksville,
was a member of the Army's 4th Battalion, 27th
Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division.
The soldiers were removing roadside bombs
from a highway south of Baghdad. Campbell's
mother, Mary Ann MacCombie of Kirksville, said
the unit intercepted a station wagon crammed with
500 pounds of ammunition, and the driver
detonated an explosive.
Campbell was stationed in Germany before he
was sent to Iraq. He originally had been expected
to return to the United States in April, but his
duty in Iraq was extended three months.
"He's supposed to be home now," said
MacCombie, recalling that her son called twice
Wednesday, a day before he died. "His last words
were, 'I'll be back in July.'"
Campbell joined the National Guard along with
his best friend, Brendan McEvoy, several years
ago. The pair enlisted in the Army in February
2002.
MacCombie said Campbell was an avid
outdoorsman and a talented drummer who tried to
assemble a band during his time in Germany. He
graduated from Truman State University in
Kirksville and planned to attend graduate school
after completing his military service.
A memorial service will be Friday at Mary
Immaculate Catholic Church in Kirksville. A
specific time has not been set. Campbell will be
buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Other soldiers killed in the attack were
Staff Sergeant Esau G. Patterson Jr., 25, of
Ridgeland, South Carolina; Staff Sergeant Jeffrey
F. Dayton, 27, of Caledonia, Mississippi;
Specialist James L. Beckstrand, 27, of Escondido,
California; Specialist Justin B. Schmidt, 23, of
Bradenton, Florida; Private First Class Ryan E.
Reed, 20, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Private
First Class Norman Darling, 29, of Middleboro,
Massachusetts; and Private First Class Jeremy
Ricardo Ewing, 22, of Miami, Florida.
Campbell, Ryan Montgomery
SGT US Army
Veteran Service Dates: February
2002 - April 2004
Date of Birth: 11/07/1978
Date of Death: 04/29/2004
Date of Internment: 05/11/2004
Buried at: Section 60 Site 7979 - Arlington
National Cemetery
-------
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107,
this material is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originator of
this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or
sponsored by the originator.)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/090604A.shtml
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/E-MAIL_TRIVIA/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
