The Light of Day

This isn't the longest post in the world.

Virtually every day, men and women die in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last week, there was, tragically, a bit more attention paid to the loss of life as it involved women serving in the Marines. But these women, who died serving all of us, will share something with the over 1,700 men and women who have died in this conflict. They will be flown home to the country they died defending in the dark of the night. Or they will land on military bases closed to media. They will be slipped back into the country in the shadows, for few if any to see.

It's an absolute disgrace. We can disagree with the war; why we're there and how the hell we get out.

But every single man and woman who dies serving this country deserves to return to it in the light of day. It makes me sick to think that families have to be by themselves in their grief. It makes me sick that the chickenhawks in Washington think that by not showing our dead, they will be able to control support for the war. They think what we don't see won't bother us. Well, it bothers me.

Let them come home in the light of day.

Let them land on American soil for all to see.

Let them be saluted not scorned.

Let them be embraced and laid to rest in peace and with dignity.

Enough is enough.

They are children of this land, let them come home in the light of day.