22 year-old Marine Jared Hubbard was killed in Iraq in 2004. His brother Nathan, an Army officer, died there this week when the Black Hawk he was in crashed ending the lives of Hubbard and 13 more soldiers. He was 21.
A third brother, Jason, 33, went to Iraq in 2005. His mother told the Fresno Bee at that time that the elder brother wanted to protect Nathan from Jared’s fate. Now the Hubbard’s third son is on his way home to Clovis, California to bury his second sibling.
Clovis Police spokeswoman Janet Stoll-Lee said the family is taking this “very, very hard.” The parents, Jeff Hubbard, a retired 30-year police force veteran, and his wife, Peggy have been in seclusion.
Yet, as a mother, it is Peg I would most like to hear from. America needs to know-- if only she would tell us-- what she is feeling in the depths of her broken heart.
Losing a child changes a parent forever. It is impossible to fathom what losing two children in the space of three years would do; but sacrificing one’s children for a useless, wasteful, ridiculous war that even generals now admit cannot be won must inflict incalculable damage.
The Hubbard sons’ deaths make us realize that we haven’t heard from enough mothers on the war in Iraq. I’d like more women to come forward—mothers, wives and lovers of the men who have been sacrificed for nothing in the so-called “war on terror” where imaginary “weapons of mass destruction” killed our best and brightest, sent to Iraq by a Commander-in-Chief too cowardly to go a war himself when it was his turn.
I want to hear the rage of women who have lost the men they love for no good reason. I want their wails and sobs to fill America’s streets, its airwaves, every chapel, cathedral, temple and mosque. I’d like campuses, state houses, town halls and chambers of Congress to be overrun with their outrage and despair.
I long for their sobs and their anger to drown out the cowardly silence of political whores who have allowed this war to go on and on uselessly, trading the blood of our sons and lovers for personal gain and wider re-election chances.
I want Peg Hubbard to tell us how it feels to send a third son back to war after lowering two others into the ground. I’d like to hear what thoughts fill her sleepless nights and hopeless days. I want her and women like her to break their silence and unfurl their devastation tightly-wrapped in tri-folded flags removed from caskets and presented to them at gravesides.
It’s hard to love a country that doesn’t love you back. It’s folly to respect a government that has no respect for your children
If men don’t have the courage to say so, maybe the women who gave birth to the men will speak out, so the Hubbard brothers’ deaths will, finally, have meaning.
________End________
Mary Ann Sorrentino
Italy Series of articles runs Aug./Sept/Oct 2015
Hope for the Future: Uruguay 2007
Happy New Year!
"JOACHIM" - Oct. '92-March '08
We Miss You, and Love You, Good Dog
Castel Del Monte
1 comment:
As the mother of an active duty military man, I would like to add my voice to what I hope will be a cacophony of sound in opposition to your opinion piece published in the Keene (NH) Sentinel on September 6, 2007.
My son chose to apply to Officer's Candidate School following his
graduation from college. Compelled by his desire to serve his country and his understanding that a stint in the military would provide him with training, experience and opportunity, he eagerly traveled to Florida and, in due
time, graduated as an officer in the United States Navy. The boy I hugged goodby morphed into a man of purpose and confidence, whose experiences in the Navy
have been challenging, sometimes frustrating, and ultimately rewarding.
As his mother, I could ask for no more of his career choice. It has given him the opportunity to travel, to lead, to problem solve and to develop his skills. He has been highly commended for his achievements. His time
in the Navy also introduced him to my daughter-in-law - an equally dedicated and patriotic American who is also a skilled and highly trained career officer.
They willingly serve to protect the rights of you and others like you.
Your opinions, so widely disseminated and loudly voiced, put them in harm'sway and provide encouragement to our enemies. I respect your right to hold those opinions. I deplore your belief that you can voice them without
consequence. Such traitorous actions are akin to those of the Free Speech advocates who believe they have the right to cry "Fire" in a crowded public space. I hope if Peg Hubbard responds to your opinion piece that she tells
you how your comments desecrate the memory of her sons and the purpose for which they fought. Remember - all of our military volunteered to serve. No
one has been drafted into the military for years. Those who volunteer without understanding the consequences of that choice are the worst kind of
opportunists - seeking the benefits of the service without being willing to pay the full price.
I am proud of my son and his wife and of their honor, courage and
commitment to defend freedom and democracy around the world. I pray for their safety and the safety of their comrades in arms every day. I am grateful that
they are willing to pursue military careers and to support and defend the rights of those who cannot stand on their own against the forces of terrorism,wherever those forces are located. I believe our President - our
Commander in Chief - and his advisors when they counsel that we must stay the course in Iraq. They have more knowledge of the entire situation than the
American public is privileged to have. I have confidence in those who elected George Bush; and in his steadfast devotion to keeping the evil that invaded our
country six years ago from ever doing so again. While I mourn with
those mothers who have lost their sons and daughters in this war, I would rather that my child lose his life fighting for something he believes in than be killed by murderous terrorists as so many sons and daughters were on 9/11.
Losing a child is devastating enough. To have a privileged columnist denigrate that loss by politicizing it is unspeakable. As for outrage and
despair - I have no words to express the depths of outrage, despair,and utter helplessness I feel when I am confronted by the traitorous words of those who believe they speak for us all. My sleepless nights and hopeless
days are filled with the images of those who oppose our country and our dreams of freedom for all people - those whose murderous purposes are supported by the lack of a unified United States citizenry imbued with the
resolve, determination and purpose which used to be the cornerstone of
our country's foundation. My deepest fear is that your voices will prevail and many more of our sons and daughters will lose their lives because your voices will embolden our enemies. My greatest hope is that mothers like Peg
Hubbard, NH's own Natalie Healey, me and others whose children have
served and are serving their country will raise their voices and drown you out.
Our children and our country deserve no less.
Post a Comment