On September 25th I posted an email from the father of one of the soldiers I was embedded with Afghanistan (all the names have been changed)
Sebastian,
Regardless of your politics; the Afghan and Iraq wars need to be documented. Thank you for your effort and placing yourself in danger to do so. My son is with the 1-75 Bonecrushers; he was recently reassigned to Lt. Johnson’s platoon, though I did not see him in your photos, his name is Corry. I would be interested in other photos of the 1-75 troops if they are available for viewing? Stay safe.
Regards,
Jon
In my post, I commented on Jon’s first line about politics and wrote a few sentences about what I thought it might mean.
Exactly one week later I received the following email:
Sebastian,
I read your comment on your blog regarding my politics statement; when I wrote it thought the same thing “why did I say that”. Perhaps I am jaded a bit toward journalists, at this time it no longer matters. My son was killed on 29 Sep 2010. Corry was on a patrol in the same area you took the photos. Stay safe.
Jon
I have asked Jon’s permission to reprint this second email because so few people, including myself, know what kind of sacrifice is being made for this war.
The men and women dying in Afghanistan are not just statistics in our news reports. They are sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, and wives and they leave behind families whose profound grief should stop us all in our tracks.
When I asked Jon if I could reprint his email I wrote that I didn’t think many people in America know what military families are going through. He responded, “You may use my email. I agree, the average American does not know.”
I hope that we can change that.
