by James Glaser
February 17, 2004

I can not tell you what I was like when I came home from Vietnam. That time of my life is still kind of a blur. I remember a lot of intense anger, I was mad all the time, and I had times of sadness thinking about my war.

Now I read about George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld sending Marines back to Iraq for their second tour. No matter how tough these Marines are, they have only been home five months and that is not long enough. They need to get over their time in combat and just five months does not cut it.

People keep writing about how George Bush had no plan for Iraq after the battles were over and this latest deployment is proof. What he is doing to these Marines is unconscionable, but what makes it doubly sick is that President Bush doesn't even realize it. The man might be the Commander in Chief, but he doesn't have any experience for the job. Bush doesn't understand what one tour does to you, let alone a second one in less than a half of a year. The President should sit down and talk to these troops and there families before sending them back to Iraq. If he did that he would see what I am talking about.

I don't think this was even done in World War II. Marines had months between Island Campaigns, but they were not sent home and told they had done their job. After you are told that your job is finished it is harder to suck it up and get back to that intense peak needed for combat.

Marines will always answer that "call to arms," but let us be honest and tell the American people that we don't have enough troops to fight this war in Iraq. We are sending Marines back to Iraq, before they have had enough time to get their last tour of combat out of their minds.

Crystal Burrola said, "It feels like we just did this yesterday." Crystal's husband Cpl. Michael Burrola, 21, finished his first tour five months ago and his wife is now pregnant with their first child. Michael said, "I thought we finished the job and here we have to do it again." "I just hope God protects us and lets us come home safe to our families."

Five months home between deployments is not enough time for these families to get over that first deployment. Months of waiting and stress will start all over again. When the war started they had no idea of what they were getting into and neither did their families. Now with months of watching the war from home and seeing one or two Americans get killed every day, this new deployment is going to tear some families up.

When you are in a War Zone you are doing everything to make that trip home. That is your whole focus and these Marines did just that. I know these guys and women are tough, but this new deployment is going to be hard. They know what they are getting into. The death of their friends and the sights of their first war are still fresh in their minds and I hope and pray they will all come home, but even they know that is wishful thinking.

Washington wasn't ready for this war. The planning for the after combat phase was non-existent. Vice President Dick Cheney talked about how the Iraqi people would welcome us with open arms. Well they didn't and Washington was stymied on what to do and they still are.

Sending troops back into combat after only a five month break is not right. It is going to cost lives and minds. You can only put a person under intense stress for so long, even Marines, before that stress starts to take its toll. Because this is a second tour in a short time frame, mistakes will happen more often, families at home will reach that breaking point sooner, and morale will suffer.

This is George Bush's War and this is how he wants to run it. We still have no exit strategy. Troops have no idea of when they will be sent home and now they have no trust that they won't be called right back. Bush and his War administration are really hurting our armed forces. It is called, Trust in the Leadership... our troops are losing that trust.