Fallen Tiger

More than a month ago, I met a combat arms soldier through the Adopt a U.S. Soldier program. We exchanged emails, and, soon enough, we started talking to each other on Yahoo Messenger. Sometimes, we would stay online for hours and hours, talking about everything we could think of. He shared his goals, desires, and dreams with me, and I shared mine with him. Even though he was really busy at times, he always took the time to leave me a message every day (if he wasn't out on a mission), to wish me a nice day.

He disappeared for a few days, and this morning, I found out that he was one of the four American soldiers killed by a suicide car bomb in Mosul, Iraq on February 9th. It was the deadliest attack since May 2008.

I didn't take the news very well. Even though I knew him for only a short time, I came to appreciate him a lot. He was a very kind person who fully understood life for what it was. He was intelligent, selfless, chivalrous, and, most of all, positive. I felt like I could tell him anything I wanted without being judged. He also didn't ask for much in life -- he was fully content with everything he had -- his sons, his family, his friends, the beach, and his job. He was really something else. I cannot imagine what his family must be feeling right now. My heart goes out to them.

A few minutes after I learned of his death this morning, my sister sent me a link to a website called F My Life. It's a collection of people moaning about why their lives suck -- stolen phones, bad dates, meddling parents, acne, smelly co-workers, and such. Even though I understood that the site existed just for entertainment value, I couldn't help but feel angry. Don't these people understand that there are bigger problems out there? Don't they understand that, while they're sitting in their warm and comfortable home in front of their computer, angrily typing, "F*** MY LIFE" just because they're out of cigarettes and the local gas station is closed, there are actually men and women out there in a foreign country, amid gunfire and explosions, wondering about whether they would get to live another day? Are they cursing their own lives? I can only imagine that they're holding onto everything they have so they could keep on fighting for their own country -- for us Americans -- so we could keep on smoking as many cigarettes as our little hearts desire.

It did not take me long to realize that our soldiers are doing a damn good job in serving our cause known as Operation Iraqi Freedom. If they failed, we Americans would be facing much bigger problems. We would no longer be complaining about bad hangovers because we would be busy fearing for our own lives.

Thank you, Joshua and all the other fallen American soldiers, for sacrificing your own lives so ours could be better.

I serve my country because I love it, and I serve because if I wasn't there, there would be some other person here instead of me, and, well, I think that whoever would have taken my place should be at home enjoying their life. I serve because it makes me feel good inside. It makes me know that there is always something out there to strive for. In this case, I strive to help other people in the world that don't have the opportunities that I have. There is a lot of other boring reasons that are really corny but, you know, it's just what I choose to do because in my country, I have the right to make that choice.

- Sergeant Joshua Allen Ward
[written to me on January 9th, 2009]