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Author
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Topic: A letter from Baghdad
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted August 07, 2003 06:35 PM
Subj: Fw: A Letter From Baghdad
Date: 08/07/2003 3:59:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From:
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Christy Ferer is a 9/11 widow who recently was a member of a group of
> celebrities (including Robert DeNiro and Kid Rock, among others) that
> took an Armed Forces Entertainment Office and USO-sponsored trip to Iraq
> to show support for the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines still over
> there. Following is an e-note she sent her escorts about the experience.
> In her cover note, she said she intends to submit it to the NY Times for
> publication. It is really powerful, and very moving, and will make you
> proud that you have chosen to serve your country, and proud to be an
> American. Enjoy...and thanks as always for all you do for America!
> Brig Gen Ron Rand
> ----------
>
> When I told friends about my pilgrimage to Iraq to thank the US troops,
> reaction was under whelming at best. Some were blunt. "Why are YOU going
> there?" They could not understand why it was important for me, a
> 9/11widow to express my support for the men and women stationed today in
> the gulf.
>
> But the reason seemed clear to me. 200,000 troops have been sent halfway
> around the world to stabilize the kind of culture that breeds terrorists
> like those who I believe began World War III on September 11, 2001.
> Reaction was so politely negative that I began to doubt my role on the
> first USO / Tribeca Institute tour into newly occupied Iraq where, on
> average, a soldier a day is killed.
>
> Besides, with Robert De Niro, Kid Rock, Rebecca and Johns Stamos, Wayne
> Newton, Gary Senise Lee Ann Wolmac who needed me?
>
> Did they really want to hear about my husband, Neil Levin, who went to
> work as director of New York Port Authority on Sept.11th and never came
> home? How would they relate to the two other widows traveling with me?
> Ginny Bauer, a New Jersey homemaker and the mother of three who lost her
> husband, David and former marine Jon Vigiano who lost his only sons, Jon,
> a firefighter and Joe, a policeman.
>
> As we were choppered over deserts that looked like bleached bread crumbs
> I wondered if I'd feel like a street hawker, passing out Port Authority
> pins and baseball caps as I said "thank you" to the troops. Would a hug
> from me mean anything at all in the presence of the Dallas Cowboy
> cheerleaders and a Victoria Secrets model?
>
> We arrived at the first "meet and greet". It made me weep. (why?) Armed
> with M16s and saddlebags of water in 120 degree heat the soldiers swarmed
> over the stars for photo and autographs.
>
> When it was announced that a trio of 9/11 family members was also in the
> tent it was as if a psychic cork on emotional dam was popped.
>
> Soldiers from every corner of New York, Long Island and Queens rushed
> toward us to express their condolences. Some wanted to touch us, as if
> they needed a physical connection to our sorrow and for some living proof
> for why they were there. One mother of two from Montana told me she
> signed up because of 9/11. Dozens of others told us the same thing. One
> young soldier showed me his metal bracelet engraved with the name of a
> victim he never knew and that awful date none of us will ever forget.
>
> In fact at every encounter with the troops a surge of reservists --
> firefighters and cops including many who had worked the rubble of Ground
> Zero -- came to exchange a hometown hug. Their glassy eyes still do not
> allow anyone to penetrate too far inside to the place where their trauma
> is lodged; the trauma of a devastation far greater than anyone who hadn't
> been there could even imagine. It's there in me, too. I had forced my way
> downtown on that awful morning, convinced that I could find Neil beneath
> the rubble.
>
> What I was not prepared for was to have soldiers show us the World Trade
> Center memorabilia they'd carried with them into the streets of Baghdad.
> Others had clearly been holding in stories of personal 9/11 tragedies
> which had made them enlist.
>
> USO handlers moved us from one corner to the next so everyone could meet
> us. One fire brigade plucked the 9/11 group from the crowd, transporting
> us to their fire house to call on those who had to stand guard during the
> Baghdad concert. It was all about touching us and feeling the reason they
> were in this hell. Back at Saddam Hussein airport Kid Rock turned a "meet
> and greet" into an impromptu concert in a steamy airport hangar before
> 5000 troops.
>
> Capt. Vargas from the Bronx tapped me on the back . He enlisted in the
> Army up after some of his wife's best friends were lost at the World
> Trade Center. When he glimpsed the piece of recovered metal from the
> Towers that I had been showing to a group of soldiers he grasped for it
> as if it were the Holy Grail. Then he handed it to Kid Rock who passed
> the precious metal through the 5000 troops in the audience. They lunged
> at the opportunity to touch the steel that symbolized what so many of
> them felt was the purpose of their mission-which puts them at risk every
> day in the 116 degree heat and not knowing if a sniper was going to
> strike at anytime.
>
> Looking into that sea of khaki gave me chills even in that blistering
> heat. To me, those troops were there to avenge the murder of my husband
> and 3 thousand others. When I got to the microphone I told them we had
> not made this journey for condolences but to thank them and to tell them
> that the families of 9/11 think of them every day. They lifts our hearts.
> The crowd interrupted me with chants of " USA, USA, USA." Many wept.
>
> What happened next left no doubt that the troops drew inspiration from
> our tragedies. When I was first asked to speak to thousands of troops in
> Quatar, after Iraq, I wondered if it would feel like a "grief for sale"
> spectacle.
>
> But this time I was quaking because I was to present the recovered WTC
> recovered steel to General Tommy Franks. I quivered as I handed him the
> icy gray block of steel. His great craggy eyes welled up with tears. The
> sea of khaki fell silent. Then the proud four-star general was unable to
> hold back the tears which streamed down his face on center stage before
> 4,000 troops. As this mighty man turned from the spotlight to regain his
> composure I comforted him with a hug.
>
> Now, when do I return?
>Subj: Fw: A Letter From Baghdad
Date: 08/07/2003 3:59:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: marlane@brainstyles.com
To: cadana@attglobal.net, merrilee.tabbert2@verizon.net, Nbosin@aol.com
CC: dajill@xtra.co.nz, krisherc@aol.com, f.runmark@worldnet.att.net, linda@rof.net
Sent from the Internet (Details)
> Christy Ferer is a 9/11 widow who recently was a member of a group of
> celebrities (including Robert DeNiro and Kid Rock, among others) that
> took an Armed Forces Entertainment Office and USO-sponsored trip to Iraq
> to show support for the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines still over
> there. Following is an e-note she sent her escorts about the experience.
> In her cover note, she said she intends to submit it to the NY Times for
> publication. It is really powerful, and very moving, and will make you
> proud that you have chosen to serve your country, and proud to be an
> American. Enjoy...and thanks as always for all you do for America!
> Brig Gen Ron Rand
> ----------
>
> When I told friends about my pilgrimage to Iraq to thank the US troops,
> reaction was under whelming at best. Some were blunt. "Why are YOU going
> there?" They could not understand why it was important for me, a
> 9/11widow to express my support for the men and women stationed today in
> the gulf.
>
> But the reason seemed clear to me. 200,000 troops have been sent halfway
> around the world to stabilize the kind of culture that breeds terrorists
> like those who I believe began World War III on September 11, 2001.
> Reaction was so politely negative that I began to doubt my role on the
> first USO / Tribeca Institute tour into newly occupied Iraq where, on
> average, a soldier a day is killed.
>
> Besides, with Robert De Niro, Kid Rock, Rebecca and Johns Stamos, Wayne
> Newton, Gary Senise Lee Ann Wolmac who needed me?
>
> Did they really want to hear about my husband, Neil Levin, who went to
> work as director of New York Port Authority on Sept.11th and never came
> home? How would they relate to the two other widows traveling with me?
> Ginny Bauer, a New Jersey homemaker and the mother of three who lost her
> husband, David and former marine Jon Vigiano who lost his only sons, Jon,
> a firefighter and Joe, a policeman.
>
> As we were choppered over deserts that looked like bleached bread crumbs
> I wondered if I'd feel like a street hawker, passing out Port Authority
> pins and baseball caps as I said "thank you" to the troops. Would a hug
> from me mean anything at all in the presence of the Dallas Cowboy
> cheerleaders and a Victoria Secrets model?
>
> We arrived at the first "meet and greet". It made me weep. (why?) Armed
> with M16s and saddlebags of water in 120 degree heat the soldiers swarmed
> over the stars for photo and autographs.
>
> When it was announced that a trio of 9/11 family members was also in the
> tent it was as if a psychic cork on emotional dam was popped.
>
> Soldiers from every corner of New York, Long Island and Queens rushed
> toward us to express their condolences. Some wanted to touch us, as if
> they needed a physical connection to our sorrow and for some living proof
> for why they were there. One mother of two from Montana told me she
> signed up because of 9/11. Dozens of others told us the same thing. One
> young soldier showed me his metal bracelet engraved with the name of a
> victim he never knew and that awful date none of us will ever forget.
>
> In fact at every encounter with the troops a surge of reservists --
> firefighters and cops including many who had worked the rubble of Ground
> Zero -- came to exchange a hometown hug. Their glassy eyes still do not
> allow anyone to penetrate too far inside to the place where their trauma
> is lodged; the trauma of a devastation far greater than anyone who hadn't
> been there could even imagine. It's there in me, too. I had forced my way
> downtown on that awful morning, convinced that I could find Neil beneath
> the rubble.
>
> What I was not prepared for was to have soldiers show us the World Trade
> Center memorabilia they'd carried with them into the streets of Baghdad.
> Others had clearly been holding in stories of personal 9/11 tragedies
> which had made them enlist.
>
> USO handlers moved us from one corner to the next so everyone could meet
> us. One fire brigade plucked the 9/11 group from the crowd, transporting
> us to their fire house to call on those who had to stand guard during the
> Baghdad concert. It was all about touching us and feeling the reason they
> were in this hell. Back at Saddam Hussein airport Kid Rock turned a "meet
> and greet" into an impromptu concert in a steamy airport hangar before
> 5000 troops.
>
> Capt. Vargas from the Bronx tapped me on the back . He enlisted in the
> Army up after some of his wife's best friends were lost at the World
> Trade Center. When he glimpsed the piece of recovered metal from the
> Towers that I had been showing to a group of soldiers he grasped for it
> as if it were the Holy Grail. Then he handed it to Kid Rock who passed
> the precious metal through the 5000 troops in the audience. They lunged
> at the opportunity to touch the steel that symbolized what so many of
> them felt was the purpose of their mission-which puts them at risk every
> day in the 116 degree heat and not knowing if a sniper was going to
> strike at anytime.
>
> Looking into that sea of khaki gave me chills even in that blistering
> heat. To me, those troops were there to avenge the murder of my husband
> and 3 thousand others. When I got to the microphone I told them we had
> not made this journey for condolences but to thank them and to tell them
> that the families of 9/11 think of them every day. They lifts our hearts.
> The crowd interrupted me with chants of " USA, USA, USA." Many wept.
>
> What happened next left no doubt that the troops drew inspiration from
> our tragedies. When I was first asked to speak to thousands of troops in
> Quatar, after Iraq, I wondered if it would feel like a "grief for sale"
> spectacle.
>
> But this time I was quaking because I was to present the recovered WTC
> recovered steel to General Tommy Franks. I quivered as I handed him the
> icy gray block of steel. His great craggy eyes welled up with tears. The
> sea of khaki fell silent. Then the proud four-star general was unable to
> hold back the tears which streamed down his face on center stage before
> 4,000 troops. As this mighty man turned from the spotlight to regain his
> composure I comforted him with a hug.
>
> Now, when do I return?
>
[ August 07, 2003, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
--------------------
EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32368 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Barry
Knows what it's all about
Member # 34
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posted August 07, 2003 08:53 PM
Thanks Leonard.Keep'em coming.We can defeat them,but we'll never change them.
Posts: 133 | From: Trinidad CO. | Registered: Jan 2003
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