The End of the Iraq War

Today marks the end of the Iraq War. I remember so vividly the day it began. In America it was March 19, 2003, the feast of St. Joseph [it was March 20th in Iraq]. To me at the time, it seemed such a sacrilege to begin a war on this feast day. The war began with "Shock and Awe," a bombardment never seen before in the history of the world (or so it seemed to me as I watched it on television from about 6000 miles away).

And today, after more than 4400 dead Americans, uncountable dead Iraqis (the estimates vary wildly, from over 100,000 to a million), and tens of thousands of wounded, the war is over. I guess we won.

For about 13 months my family was on pins and needles as my niece, Michelle Zaremba, served with the Ohio National Guard in Iraq and Kuwait. Michelle led truck convoys across Iraq and was often in danger. On Easter of 2004 my niece was almost killed as an RPG shot through her cab windows. She and her co-driver were wounded in this attack, and her truck was incinerated (if I remember correctly, Michelle had 2 trucks burn up during her service there). I can't imagine the heat, dust, violence, fear--and yes, the camaraderie and heroism--that Michele and her colleagues encountered.

Michele and thousands of other soldiers brought home spiritual suffering from this war, PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has had counseling and treatment for this and has handled it well. But not all returning soldiers have overcome PTSD. There have been suicides, many of them, and problems with alcohol and drugs. Three of my uncles were damaged by their service in World War II, when they hardly had a name for PTSD (in severe cases it was called "shell shock" back in those days). My uncles (Jack Coughlin and Dick and Don Fitzpatrick) never got treatment for their psychological pain.

So today I think of all the dead, wounded, and suffering--on all sides--and hope that a just peace comes to Iraq. 

Bring peace to this broken world, O Lord!

The Unending Tragedy of Iraq and Afghanistan

We received some devastating news last evening about a National Guard comrade of my niece, Michelle Zaremba. This fellow, John David Delaney, Michelle's co-driver on convoys in Iraq, apparently took his own life. I am lacking in details about this tragedy, but I think it might be the soldier who was driving with her when her truck was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). At the time, Easter of 2004, Michelle was slightly wounded and her co-driver seemed at first to be dead--but somehow he regained consciousness and they were both able to escape the truck before it incinerated.

Many soldiers are still in immanent danger in Iraq and Afghanistan. And thousands of others continue to suffer the aftereffects of the war via PTSD, nightmares, addictions, and other physical and psychic injuries. Our prayers are with them!

Here is a link to John Delaney's obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bucyrustelegraphforum/obituary.aspx?n=john-delaney&pid=145853119

It seems he was not the co-driver when Michelle Zarfemba was wounded; he drove with Michelle after that incident.

"Wheels on Fire" by Michelle Zaremba--Now Available

My niece Michelle Zaremba's long-awaited book, Wheels on Fire: My Year of Driving (and Surviving) in Iraq, is now available. I believe it is in-stock in some bookstores and I just ordered it from Amazon at the following website: http://www.amazon.com/Wheels-Fire-Year-Driving-Surviving/dp/1555716563/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226589760&sr=1-1

Michelle wrote this book with her friend Christine Sima. I played some small role in the process, doing some basic editing of the raw manuscript. We usually hear about wars from scholars, historians, or generals. Here's a view from the ground--from Michelle, a sergeant in the Ohio National Guard. Michelle is the daughter of my sister Mary Ellen Coughlin Zaremba and Ed Zaremba. Michelle grew up in Brookpark, Ohio, a close-in western suburb of Cleveland, and Valley City, a semi-rural part of Medina County, Ohio. Michelle won the Purple Heart in Iraq and works now as a mediator for the city of Dayton, Ohio.

5th Anniversary of the Cruel War

Today, March 19, 2008, marks the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War--with no end in sight. There have been news reports claiming that John McCain says we could stay in Iraq fighting for a hundred years. I remember when the news announced the invasion on March 19, 2003. As a longtime Catholic, I thought, "The tragedy of it--invading a country, starting a war on the Feast of St. Joseph." It was a slap in the face to Pope John Paul II, who begged Bush not to prosecute this war; worse, it was a slap in the face to Catholics and to all people who believe in war as the absolutely last resort (a basic tenet of Just War Theory).

Think of the costs of this war--in human lives and health, in treasure, and in moral authority. Bush and his cronies have undermined the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights; they have allowed and justified human torture; they have fought the first American preemptive war of choice (think of Pearl Harbor!); and they have spent an incredible amount of American treasure, estimated right now up to a half trillion dollars (that would be $500,000,000,000)--with no end in sight. A recent article in Vanity Fair says that a conservative estimate of the cost of this war is 3 trillion dollars! Bush did this without raising taxes, an action that was extraordinarily deceptive, and one that is fueling inflation and economic chaos.

This war has lasted longer than World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. When will it end? How will our Constitution, Bill of Rights, moral authority, and US treasure ever be restored? The lives lost, the lives in ruin!

Here's a poem for the occasion. Forgive the pre-Vatican II Latin:


"On the Feast of St. Joseph, 2008"

(The 5th Anniversary of the Iraq War)


Miserere, Domine, Miserere Nobis

Spare us O Lord though
We hardly deserve your mercy.

My soul is the gloom sky, the bitter
Rain the long hunger of March.

The crucifixion clouds our minds
The scourging the mocking
The crowning with bitter
Thorns

The death, the blood, white charnel house of bone
Smithereens, Our soul our country!

Parce Domine, Parce Populo Tuo!
Spare, O lord, spare your people

Bring us to peace
Though we hardly deserve it.

Miserere, Domine, Miserere Nobis.

(Robert M. Coughlin
March 19, 2008)