Bittersweet Iraq

A little over 5 years ago I lived in North Carolina. Fort Bragg to be exact. My then boyfriend was a Sargent in the United States Army, 82nd Airborne, and I had moved from my home after a 6 month long distance relationship, a deployment to Iraq, and a romance we thought would last the ages. My way of life changed from hanging out with my friends, midnight movies, and work to being a army spouse although we were not married.

Deployments ate away at me, while they ate away at my friends and family members lives. I lost a number of good friends I had made while living there, men that would stop their evening to run to the store for me for a gallon of milk by choice, not because I asked. People who would watch my dog when I took a long weekend trip back home to Connecticut to visit my family. Men that would give the shirt off their back on a cool spring evening if that is what I needed. Amazing, young, vibrant, selfless, respectful men who made the brave choice to sign up for our armed forces knowing there was a great possibility they would be going off to war.

Dead, coming home missing body parts, loss of memory, and various other conditions that started during an injury in the war. And I saw my own relationship quickly deteriorate after the last deployment I was present for. Night terrors turned into day terrors, which turned into PTSD and in the end, a relationship he just could not handle after all he saw and experienced.

We cut our losses and went our own ways. I returned home to my friends and family, and two short years later married a good friend from high school, and welcomed our first child not in that order.

Last night, watching the news, seeing the last of the combat troops leaving Iraq was certainly bittersweet for me, as someone who knew though all my experiences, that we had no business in that country to begin with. Our troops will continue to be present in Iraq for probably decades as peace keepers, but now the men and women involved in combat operations will be moving into Kuwait, and over to focus more on Afghanistan, and probably moving into Iran. It is only just a matter of time.

This reminds me of May 1st, 2003 though. When George W. Bush the worst President in history got up on an aircraft carrier, and gave this long winded speech with a giant banner proclaiming Mission Accomplished. What mission? The war is still going on. Nothing was accomplished, nothing was solved, and seven years later we are still not accomplished.

It hurts, and I cried last night, I cried at the senseless loss, I cried for the families of all those service members, and I cried because the American public is over excited for our combat troops moving out of a country our military will still be present in.
While it is a step in the right direction for us, it is still going to be a long road before all of our men and women are home for good.