Someone to Love

Serving our country in the military must be the hardest job going. I have the utmost respect for anyone who wears or wore a uniform. I'm a little too young to have had any friends who served in Vietnam and now I know parents whose children are in Iraq or Afghanistan. My nephew was in Iraq and took part in the mission that captured the palace where Sadam's sons were living. In the military you're at the mercy of the Commander in Chief and today's soldiers will most likely be sent overseas to Iraq or Afghanistan. I personally believe we will never be out of there. Imagine day in and day out wondering if this will be the day that someone or something will kill you. Then there are the families that these men and women leave behind left to wonder the same thing every day. Add in the horror and suffering they must see everyday. I can't

fathom it.

Whether you agree or disagree with the two wars that we've been thrust into, the men and women serving are some one's son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, grandchild, aunt, uncle and friend and I feel for them. As a mother, my children are my most precious possession and it would be torture for me to have them where human life is so easily disregarded. It makes my blood boil when I hear of another soldier killed in the line of duty in a place we have no business being. My heart hurts for the innocent citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan who are also being killed by both sides. I sometimes think that if mothers ruled the world there would be no wars. In case you were wondering what The Runaway Bunny has to do with war I'll tell you... U.S. Army SPC Jason M. Johnson of Albion, NY was killed December 26, 2009 by an IED (improvised explosive device) while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in Arghandab, Afghanistan. Johnson was 24 years old and on his second deployment with the 82nd Airbourne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. At his funeral his mother Jenny requested that the book The Runaway Bunny be read aloud during the service. The book she explained was a favorite of Jason's as a young child and he would ask to have it read to him over and over again before bed.

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Jason M. Johnson was some one's son, grandson, brother, uncle and nephew.