Sean Huze, who served as a Marine in Iraq, has written a powerful new play, "The Sand Storm," which is playing in Los Angeles. To buy tickets, or to find out more about the play, click here.
Sean's story has received a tremendous amount of national press coverage. A USA Today article on PTSD featured Sean as did seperate articles in both the New York Times and LA Times.
1.gif)
November 8, 2004
The day before I left for Kuwait in preparation of the invasion of Iraq, I had a long talk with my father. Towards the end of the conversation he brought up his concerns about the validity of our justifications for war. I was outraged with him. How could he even mention such a thing on the eve of my deployment? There was no way the Administration would send us over there to kill and/or die for a lie. I was resolute on this "fact" and told my father as much.
So, on February 6th, 2003 my wife drove me to my battalion. I promised her that I would come home to her and told her to take care of our little boy. After a tearful good-bye, I turned to the task at hand of getting all my gear loaded up and ready to go. I recall feeling a sense of real pride to get the opportunity to serve and protect my country in combat.
A few hours later and we were on a plane heading to Kuwait. Upon arrival we headed to our makeshift camp which would be our home for the next few weeks. After weeks of restlessness and boredom, on March 19, 2003 we finally got the call to move out. We were heading to Iraq to invade. I was so excited and looking forward to the challenges I knew awaited us in Iraq. A couple of days just south of the DMZ along the Kuwaiti/Iraqi border finally came to an end and we began to push north into Iraq.
The next few months will always stay with me. The first real action I saw was in Nasirya. I remember seeing a sign I was crossed into town that read "Welcome to Nasirya" in both Arabic and English. The irony of reading a welcome sign as we came under fire remains with me to this day.
Nasirya was similar to other towns in that those fighting us seemed to have no regard for the civilians in the area. While many on the left seem intent on portraying us as intentionally killings civilians, that just wasn't true. However, oft times we were put in a position where there simply was not time to get positive ID and suppression fire had to be directed at areas where we had taken fire. The unfortunate result was a heavy civilian casualty toll.
This toll began to weigh heavily upon me as we pushed from Nasirya, Al Kut, Baghdad, and Tikrit. I comforted myself with the letters from my wife and the knowledge that these sacrifices, of both the U.S. Service Men & Women and of the Iraqi people, was for a greater good.
After a few months in country we got to return home. A couple of months went by and I allowed myself to bask in the adoration my friends and family blessed me with. I'm not sure what sparked it, but slowly my faith in the justifications of the war began to fade.
Maybe it was the fruitless search for the weapons of mass destruction or the lack of any credible Al Qaeda ties to Saddam Hussein. As months dragged on, it became more and more evident that these would never be found. As these justifications for war dissipated, so did my own personal justifications for the death I had seen.
.JPG)
from J Loomis, NYTimes
So, here I am. I'm left with pride in my own service and the men I served with, but the sickening feeling that it was avoidable. I would gladly lay down my life for our country. Like every other man who wears this uniform, our commitment is not at issue. Call it naivety, but it never occurred to me that my country was less committed to us than we are to it. Sending us in harm's way for a lie amounts to a betrayal that may prove to be criminal. It's unfortunate that on November 2nd 59,000,000 Americans failed to do their duty and hold the administration accountable for this betrayal of the troops. A dishonorable discharge was never more warranted.
Sean's play has received some great press coverage, including articles in the New York Times and USA Today.
If you enjoyed reading Sean' s story and would like continue to read more of such stories, plese help us by contributing to Operation Truth. Click here to donate. To arrange an interview with Sean, contact press[at]iava.org.
|
