My Dearest Son Dustin,

As Thanksgiving approaches and you prepare for yet another journey to Iraq, I wanted to say some things to you here because I break down when I try to say them on the phone.

I knew from the time you were old enough to walk that your dream was the Military. And all though I may not believe in this war, I do believe in you and I am so very proud of you for standing up for what you believe is right.

Tomorrow on Thanksgiving and every day, I am thankful for the 21 years of joy and delight you have brought to my life. There has never been a moment when you didn't make me proud of you. I laugh when I think of all your pranks, surprises, and infectious smiles. You were always the helper, first to volunteer to help anyone you thought might need something. You still have that in you today. You have a gift for making others feel special.

As you head off to war, know that I too am going with you in my heart. Remember the poem I wrote for you many years ago "You Can" and it will get you through. You always tell me to "stay safe and alert" and now I pass those words right back to you son.

You are my soldier, my hero, and my son. I am very proud to call you all 3. May God and his angels watch over you and bring you home safe and soon. I love you!

Mom

Note To Readers: My son deploys for his 2nd TOD on November 28th, 2007. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Okay, I may get a lot of flack about this post, but its my blog so I am just gonna say what I feel and hope the readers try and understand my point of view. You don't have to agree with me, just try and see both sides of the coin if you do NOT agree with what I am about to say.

Most everyone is aware of the incident involving the 6 teens in Jena, Louisiana who were charged with beating another student. Notice I did not refer to the 6 as "6 black teens" nor did I refer to the other student as "a white student". Guess what? It doesn't matter what color any of them were now does it?

I am an activist and I cannot tell you the countless emails I have received on this matter literally begging for my support of these 6 teens. I have to tell you that I am SHOCKED that anyone is supporting them and is NOT in favor of seeing them punished. Again, I do NOT care what color any of them are, they still beat another human being to the point of unconsciousness. What part of that do most people NOT get??????

Al Sharpton started this BS about this being racial and being racially unfair. Well, it is NOT about race at all. Its about 6 people literally almost beating another person to death. What role does color play here? NONE!

I am from the South where a lot people are racist. I am glad to say I was not raised to be ignorant like that. I was not taught to look at people for their color. I was taught to see people for who they are NOT their skin color.

However, I cannot help but wonder if this situation were reversd. (6 white kids beating 1 black kid) would ANYONE scream it was racial. HELL NO they wouldn't. I am so sick of all the racism crap. Why can people not move beyond that and learn to live in peace???

How come AOL has a special section called "Black Voices"? Yet they do not have one called "White Voices"? Not that I care, but WHY is it only racial when it is reversed. I guarantee if AOL had "White Voices" as one of their sections but no "Black Voices", someone would sue the hell out of them.

Also, there is a Miss Black America Pagent but NOT a Miss White America Pagent? Again, I could care less, but WHY does no one seem to think things like THIS are racial because clearly they would be in all fairness.

Racism exists in the minds of those people who need a crutch to lean on and refuse to move ahead. Anyone can be anything in this life they want to be. If you are strong willed enough NOTHING or NO ONE will hold you back.

Will the Jena 6 get my support. Absolutely not! They committed a crime and should be punished accordingly. I would say the EXACT same thing if the Jena 6 were white.

Sorry, but this has been eating me up for some time and I just felt the need to let it go today. Thanks for listening.

I get asked a lot "How do you cope with your son being deployed to Iraq?" There is no easy answer for this except to say its hard and when he is over there, my life is changed completely.

I do not watch the news or read the newspaper if I can avoid doing either. This is at my sons own request. He says the media is way off-base with what limited info they actually know and what they actually report.

I busy myself sending care packages to him and his platoon. I also have adopted another platoon so this takes up a lot of my time.

I live for his phone calls which are rare because he also has a wife and baby to call and check on first. The phone lines are often lengthy and sometimes he is just to exhausted to handle the wait.

Probably the worst thing is hearing a car in the driveway. I become gripped with fear that this is the "official visit" which will bring news of death.

My son has been blessed so far and had little energy other then an eye mishap as he was lightly grazed by an IED.

I cannot tell you how many Military funerals I have been to for soldiers in my local area. I just pray every day that my family will not have to endure that pain, loss, and suffering. My heart goes out to each and every family who has gone through it.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Although I give thanks for the beauty of my life and family every day.

Two years ago at Thanksgiving, my youngest son was deployed to Iraq. He left one day after Thanksgiving. His wife (also in the Army) also deployed 2 days before him. It broke my heart to see them go.

At Christmas, the Army sent Shelly (his wife back to the states because she discovered she was pregnant with what would be my first grandchild).

Dustin (my son) got mid tour leave in May 2006 and was able to be with his wife when their baby was born. The baby was born 7 weeks early and had probs (he is SUPER FINE now) so Dustin was able to remain in the states with his family.

Now here it is 2007 and Shelly's enlistment is almost over THANKFULLY. However, Dustin will redeploy once again around Thanksgiving. I have gotten to the point I dread to see this holiday come.

Half my heart always goes with him, I just want him to be safe. This whole war thing is insane. May God bless us all.