Airing Now: LCPL John L Howell’s “The Cost Of Freedom”
Alright readers, it’s time to be PatDollard.com Bloggers. I’d like everyone whose got that special rant in them to let loose for the world. Send me yours at submit AT patdollard.com, along with a photo, and I’ll post it on the front page as the latest featured Reader Post. “There will never be a war that the Democrats will stand with the soldier on the battlefield again.”: Today’s most excellent piece was written by John L Howell L/Cpl USMC 1st LAR, 1st Mar Div 91-95.
The Costs of freedom
Most Americans seem to have forgotten what is really meant by the old saying “Freedom isn’t free”. Americans may be teaching our children to grow up loving this country, but not many parents teach their children that their freedom and their rights have been bought and paid for in the blood of generations past. And the price has never been cheap.
I have been listening to random people around my town, and news pundits talking again about the war in Iraq. Specifically talking about the cost of war in human lives. Although one dead is too many, if you really take a look at the costs, in human lives, this time around we are getting off pretty cheap.
I have heard reports that U.S. troops have killed Iraqi Civilians. I have seen those claims fall to the way side for the most part. I do know that there are thousands of Iraqi Citizens dead, inflicted by the homicide bombings and torture rooms operated by Al Qaeda and their puppets in Iraq. I do not have current stats on civilian casualties in Iraq; but if you turn on a TV, listen to a radio, or read a newspaper one cannot help but hearing the body count in American Service members.
As I am writing this the current number of servicemen and women killed in Iraq is at 3,632 or approximately 69 deaths per month. That may seem like a lot of death; but consider this, on September 11, 2001 in a matter of three hours we lost roughly 83% of the total of our brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice after 53 months of combating an enemy that prefers to hide among a civilian population instead of fight.
Yes, I think that this time around we are getting off cheap. It cost us just over 3,000 lives on September 11th, just fewer than 20 lives when they blew a hole in the side of the U.S.S. Cole, I don’t remember how many died in the bombings of two embassies in Africa. When I compare the human costs in Iraq to the human costs in previous wars, or even some of the individual battles in World War II, I cannot help but come to the conclusion that our freedom and way of life is more than worth it. Just go back to a time when the tools of death and destruction were very limited in their efficient infliction of damage, the Revolutionary War.
Neither General Washington nor General Cornwallis or any of the other battlefield commanders had the means to employ the types of weapons we see in Iraq on the battlefields of colonial America. There were no carriage bombs, suicide explosive belts, 2000 pound bombs falling from the sky, or the ability to fire more than one round at a time. The number of American volunteers killed over the course of the eighty month conflict 4,435, with an average of fifty-five killed per month of the conflict. Here as in Iraq, the populace was split on whether it was wise, or even necessary, to fight the British for control of the American Colonies. I have even read that the majority of the American colonists would have preferred to remain under the rule of King George. In this case, I thank God that the minority won the day, if they actually were the minority.
The Civil War is the most costly conflict that this country has every seen, when you combine both Union and Confederate losses. A combined 558,052 soldiers on both sides of the conflict, this is an average of 11,626 dead per month for the four years of that fight. If you separate out Union from Confederate the death toll is still enormous. The Union Army lost 359,528 soldiers. This comes out to approximately 7,490 Union Soldiers dead every month. In this war the media routed for the under-dogs, the Confederates, just like our current conflict in Iraq. It got so heated in the papers that President Lincoln even jailed a journalist for sedition because of the scathing anti-union spin.
The Civil War is a bit of a biased example seeing as all of those dead were Americans fighting on one side of the issue or the other. I believe a better example to the war in Iraq is World War II. The casualties are tallied by nation so it is easier to see the cost of freedom. It is still the most costly war in terms of financially, costing just over 2 trillion dollars in 1990’s dollars, and cost much more.
Over the course of three years and eight months 407,316 Americans gave their lives for the liberation and security of European countries, as well as the fight against Japan. Here again there is a very large average deaths per month, 9,257. In the Battle for Iwo Jima the United States Marine Corps over the course of 34 days lost 8,226 Marines and Sailors. Most of these losses came in the early days of the fight. If you put that into perspective that is over twice the losses in one 34 day battle with the Japanese, compared to 53 months fighting Al Quada in Iraq.
The other similarity to World War II is that one could argue that we had absolutely no business going to join the fight in Europe. I don’t remember any nation, outside of Japan, attacking us. I was never taught about Germany bombing any of our interests, at home or abroad. That is probably because they never did. They did, however, park a submarine next to our coast and insert two spies that were caught and tried in a military tribunal. Good thing we did not send them to Gitmo, the trail would still be going on today if the ACLU had any say in the matter.
I guess one of the biggest differences between World War II and this go round in Iraq is that in the 1930’s I don’t believe that there were many politicians talking about our need to over throw Hitler and his buddies. In the mid to late 90’s we had many politicians holding seats in the Senate or the House, as well as the Commander-in-Chief all saying the regime change in Iraq was a goal that was being worked on. Many of the same Senators from the 90’s reiterated the point in 2002 when both houses of Congress were making sure the American people heard them the loudest. It was fashionable to want to look and sound like a hawk back then. Now it would seem that the exact opposite is true.
Every politician in Washington D.C. will tell you that they are not advocating our surrender to Al Quada. They just think that we did our job in Iraq, especially since it was an unjust and needless war that they voted for in the first place. Remember “I voted for the $87 Billion before I voted against it”. The newest of catch phrases is “REDEPLOYMENT”. No, they do not want us to cut and run from Iraq with our tail between our legs, they want our troops to remain safe at an undisclosed location away from the fight. I mean God forbid that our fighting men and women actually fight an actual enemy that wants to kill as many Americans as they can. It would probably be best if we only sent our brave troops to places that have nothing to do with the safety and security of America, how about sending them to Darfur. There we can try to do the same job that we did in Somalia. We can become the Salvation Army of the world.
This is the same mentality that cost us four airplanes, two or three buildings, and 3,000 plus civilian lives. We cut and ran from Somalia, from a mission that the Marines and Amy soldiers were not properly trained to do, no one taught them to ask if the Somalis wanted fries with that.
My point is very simple, freedom is not free and the price of surrender just costs us more as a nation than I am willing to pay.
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The Germans did in fact sink tons of our freight in the North Atlantic prior to our entry into WWII. Any merchant vessel heading towards England was a frequent target for German U-boats. In effect, the Germans had already declared war on us, long before Hitler’s official declaration three days after Pearl Harbor.
Other than that addition, good stuff.
July 30th, 2007 at 2:34 pmDan(The Infidel),
July 30th, 2007 at 7:29 pmSorry for my confusion. What I meant is they never attacked us here at home, except for the two spies.
hitler was actually times “man of the year” in 1938, so we certainly werent thinking of overthrowing him.
July 31st, 2007 at 12:44 amid really like to know what the death rate is for terrorist in iraq.
either way, great article
hitler sunk our vessels because they were supplying britain with supplies, some of which was war goods.. roosevelt wanted in the war real bad and sacrificed shipping and pearl to get into it,,,and it was a good thing because then the whole country was behind our troops in the bringing down of saddam,, ooooops wrong scenerio,, i ment hitler,,
July 31st, 2007 at 5:49 amExcellent point John. Too many Americans choose to think that if we walk away from Iraq the terrorists will walk away too. If we do walk away from Iraq the next hit this nation receives from terrorist organizations may make 9/11 look like a walk in the park.
The goal of Islamic terrorists is to eradicate the western way of life. That means we convert to their way of life or die. That is something that can’t be negotiated with, it can’t be bartered with or paid off. Despite the political rhetoric out of the media and Washington never in the history of mankind has any party negotiated a successfully agreement with a tyrannical dictator. To believe otherwise would be to claim that the Jews should have negotiated a better agreement with Adolf Hitler before his final solution.
The United States walked out of Vietnam in 1975. Shortly thereafter 2 Million South Vietnamese were executed. In 1979 Iran took action against the United States by taking Americans hostage for 444 days. Iran believed the U.S. was weak at that time because WE WALKED AWAY FROM VIETNAM and they acted on that weekness years after we backed out of that war.
We as a nation made a decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003. It is our duty to finish this action not only for the safety of this nation but for the safety of the citizens of Iraq. If we walk away from Iraq now and millions of Iraqi citizens are executed as happened in Vietnam that will be blood on our hands.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:31 amMess,
I thought we were out of Vietnam around ‘72-’73, and the ARVN did OK for a couple years…until our congress dropped the 276 million aid to them…and in ‘75, the Marines only came back for rescue. Then the purges took place.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:08 amJohn
July 31st, 2007 at 3:04 pmThank you for your service and your outstanding article!
Well said Marine.
The predator always hunts the weak and wounded. We walk away and we once again become the hunted.
Keep up the fire…
July 31st, 2007 at 3:18 pmExcellent piece.
I am not a highly educated person or history buff like many here who post. Nor do I have any personal military background. That is why I enjoy reading Pats site, his views, and many of the commenters/bloggers here. I learn so much.
With that said, it really is sad to think that any portion of our society does not seem to understand the true nature of the threat and serious intent of our enemies after everything they should have learned from the past. They truly will not just go away whether we leave or not.
As just an average person without the knowlege many here possess, I know and always knew that freedom isn’t free and that this is one fight we cannot walk away from. The cost in human lives is always mourned. Like you said though the price without the cost of those lives will be even higher if we were to walk away. Walking away will only serve to embolden the enemy and allow them time to gather strength. Now if we could only get the other side of this country to understand that - it sure would help. It would be a beautiful thing to see this whole country unite to win.
Somalia is remembered vividly and I wish we would have stayed and made them pay for that. At least in this conflict President Bush took a stand and stuck to it no matter how unpopular/difficult it has been and most importantly, so have the vast majority of our soldiers. God bless them all.
Thank you for your service LCPL Howell.
July 31st, 2007 at 4:27 pmSandy K:
I think the reason there are so many people against the war is simple. Most people work their 9 to 5 jobs and then come home to spend time with their family. They turn on their local news and then the national news. What is shown every night in every newscast around the country? It’s full of sensationalized negative, depressing, and pessimistic stories about crime, death, conspiracies, and exposing people who are out to get us all.
The mainstream media’s quest to uncover the next Watergate scandal drives them to dig up the most appalling and polarizing stories out there.
Most Americans are too tired and lazy to seek out the truth on sites such as Pat’s, Michael Yon’s, etc. Generations have been raised on the evening local and national news. Yesterday’s young kids were bombarded with the crap that passes as journalism and since they grew up modeling what their parents did they now do the same things with their families.
However, since the glass is always half full in my view of the world there is hope. The fact you and everyone else is reading this post is a telling sign of the coming changes to the way things have always been done. The days of the good ole boy’s biased and detrimental media propaganda machine are numbered.
Truth goes thru three phases:
1) It’s ridiculed
2) It’s violently opposed
3) It’s accepted as self-evident
I believe people like us in this community are leading the wave of the future. We are the ones who have gotten off the negative propaganda treadmills to seek the truth. Everyday this community grows bigger and stronger. Everyday the old propaganda machine of negative and falsified reporting grows weaker. Remember all the layoff at NBC in the past year? Shrinking market share? Each one that unplugs from the old media “matrix” if you will, strengthens this community and weakens the “matrix.”
One day in the not too distant future the “matrix” will collapse and people will follow only relevant sources of truth. Since there are thousands and thousands of places to get information now instead of a handful of corrupt media organizations, people will stick with a source only as long as they trust it.
So my fellow bloggers and posters lets be grateful to people like Pat Dollard and thousands more like him who continue to stand up for what they believe in.
The light always scatters the darkness…
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3)
God bless our troops and their fast approaching victory! Thanks for what you do Pat and thanks to everyone reading Pats blog. Please tell everyone you know to come to Pat’s site. Let’s speed the demise of the old media into the dustbin of history!
Love in action
Corey Wayne
July 31st, 2007 at 7:24 pmTanicacid,
August 1st, 2007 at 9:54 amI stand corrected. Vietnam fell in 1975 to communist control. I believe we backed out a year earlier. Thanks for keeping me honest.
Corey,
August 1st, 2007 at 11:12 pmyou sure know how to steal a guys thunder. I like the way you write. Try to take my spot, if you don’t get it email me at howie at howieshead dot com and I will post what you write.
Howie
Thank you Corey! You are a great blogger and wise.
I believe you are right about why some of the general public has not been all over the leftist media.
God knows I have a very hard time of keeping up this this site alone and several others I read as well. It took me a while to find the sources of true media. I am greatful to have found them. God bless Pat Dollard and all our bloggers and posters of the real truth about our military and mission that we seek to accomplish. Hopefully those who are lagging behind in the reality of it will tune in soon.
I will continue to spread the word about Pat’s site and all who are dedicated to winning against the enemies of this country and our people.
I will remember this:
“The light always scatters the darkness… ”
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3)
August 4th, 2007 at 12:03 pm