I didn't know her well, but she was a wildland firefighter for a couple of years and then joined up. Just a year or two out of college, she was on her second tour as a Combat Medic working with a group that removed IEDs from roadsides. She was killed by an IED blast. Her name's not on any of the casualty sites yet, but it soon will be. I grieve for her family and friends.
I'm very sorry to hear it. For every patriot like her, imagine the same anguish for 4,000 other families. What a mad, mad war. Impeach Bush.
i don't know how much grief you're feeling, since as you say above, you didn't know her well, but it's clear her death will have a personal affect. she joined voluntarily. you can best honor her, by remembering that.
And yet, people always think the next war is going to be different. My thoughts and prayers are with you, rim, and with everyone affected by war.
Thanks guys, but I don't feel like I should be receiving condolences. I only met her a couple of times, but just knowing someone makes the war all the more real. I think condolences should go to us all... she was a trained firefighter, a trained medic, a good person... she would happily go into situations that most men (including me) would run from. Too bad we'll never know what kind of difference she could have made with the rest of her life. We're all the poorer for this war.
Very sorry to hear that Rimrocker and condolences to her friends and family. A few years ago one of my Judo students was really upset one night at practice and I took her aside and asked her why. She said she just found out her brother had been killed in Iraq. Its times like these that you realize how truly serious and real war is far from the video game vision that most of us get of the battlefield. Whether we agree or don't agree with the war we can never forget that the people there fighting are someone's son, daughter, brother, sister, father, mother or dear friend.
