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Commentary on Iraq Humanitarian Efforts The Davis County Family Home Evening Group has set aside
particular
Monday evenings in the past to prepare and send various items
such as school supplies, etc. Perhaps some of them have reached
the children talked about in the following commentary. 3/9/2005 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Did you hear the good news in Iraq today? My guess is no. It is no secret that good news is no news, especially when news sells. So who wants to buy good news when you can get bad news for free? Think about it. Is the media to blame? If so, why? The media sells news, the public buys news. I'll make it easy for you. I have good news from Iraq, and it's free! My name is Ricky Fitzgerald. I'm a master sergeant in the Air Force, and I work as a Combat Camera videographer, stationed at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. I have a story to tell, but be warned; it may shock you -- it's all good news. Let me first lay down a little disclaimer and maybe some bias. I love my country, I love our military, and I love the people who serve in it. I have never met finer friends than those I have served with during the past 18 years. I arrived here in Iraq in early January, just two months ago. Like most members of the military arriving here, I was a little scared, a little disoriented and a little unsure about what was going to happen next and who it was going to happen to. Why wouldn't I be? I watch the same news you do. I have seen things I would rather not see -- sad things, sad people and sad situations that seem to have no end in sight. My purpose here is not to hide or downplay the obvious: people are dying here every day. Out of respect for our fallen brothers and sisters who selflessly laid down their lives for something they believed in, I think the public, especially the families of those who have fallen in this foreign land, deserve to know the truth about what is really going on 90 percent of our time over here. I'm writing this to tell you exactly what I have seen, not what I have watched or read on the news, and not what I have heard in daily briefings. Are you the one who donated one of the 60 soccer balls we handed out this week? Last week those same kids were kicking a can in the street.Maybe you contributed one of the 1,160 pairs of shoes that I watched Iraqi children slip into last week. Watching all those children try on shoes for the very first time in their life is beyond any Christmas present opening you could ever witness. Or was it you who filled all of those boxes up
with school supplies,
toys, blankets and stuffed animals for the children? I couldn't Are you the American kid who spent all day in class writing thank you letters to American servicemembers you have never even met? Take it from me, your pictures are proudly displayed in almost every American's office, tent and armored vehicle in Iraq. Are you the parent, wife, husband, brother, sister or neighbor of the American servicemember who I saw playing with Iraqi children today? Those kids looked up to him like he was the best thing that has ever happened in their lives. I believe he was. Maybe you know the servicemember who stepped out of his armored vehicle only to be swarmed by Iraqis, both young and old, who wanted nothing more than to hold his hand and walk proudly down the neighborhood street with him. And walk they did; you should have seen it! I am here to tell all of you the truth. Your toys, your blankets, your drawings and your letters are here in Iraq, and every day you are putting smiles on faces and hope in every Iraqi child's future. Will shoes and toys solve the world's problems? Certainly not, but if you could see what I have seen in the eyes of an Iraqi child, you would know there is hope. And if you could see the strength and determination of the American servicemember here in Iraq, you would know your prayers are working. News comes in many forms, and a camera's lens captures it all -- good and bad. But today, I give you the good. God bless you all. |
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