Pat Tillman’s story is well known.  He was a professional football player who gave up millions of dollars and a football career to join the Army Rangers.  Tillman played defense back for the Arizona Cardinals.  He turned down a $1.2 million contract to serve his country instead.  He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004 when he was killed by friendly fire.  His death and the story of his willingness to answer the call to serve his country became an inspiring tale of patriotism and heroism.  Now three years after his death, one of Tillman’s former teammates is heading to Iraq.   

Jeremy Staat is a former NFL defensive lineman.  He played for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams.  He was playing for the Los Angeles Avengers in the Arena Football League before joining the United States Marine Corps.  Staat was also Pat Tillman’s roommate at Arizona State University.  Staat says that he was motivated to join the service after the September 11th attacks, but Tillman advised him to stay in the NFL until he was eligible for retirement benefits.

In 2006, Staat, now 29, enlisted in the Marine Corps and was sent to boot camp at the Marine Recruit Depot in San Diego.  He is now a part of the 1^st Batallion, 3^rd Marine Regiment out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.  The unit just deployed for a seven month tour in Iraq.  When interviewed by local news before leaving, Staat had this to say, “the way I look at it, we’re spreading freedom, and you have to support the troops and you have to support the war. You can’t just tell some Marine who just lost his buddy that we supported you but not the war, because in that case you’re basically saying that Marine, his buddy, just died for nothing. We’re one team.”

That simple statement brings to light what members of our armed forces have always known.  That the war for them and their families is personal.  Partisan discussions of international diplomacy and foreign policy may be what the politicians and media pundits want to focus on, but for our troops war at its most basic level is about the guy sitting to you, the friend who is willing to fight beside you, the buddy who won’t come home.  The politics of the war may be popular on the news, but on the battlefield loyalty is what counts.   

The stories of neglect that are emerging from Walter Reed Hospital have opened a firestorm of debate, recrimination and promises of change.  All of that is good and long overdue, but the bottom line is that our government is failing those who have served and sacrificed for this country.  Men and women who have been wounded fighting for this country are being abandoned by the very system that should be caring for them.  Our wounded soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen and National Guardsmen are being wounded again by the disgraceful treatment they are receiving by VA hospitals around the country. In the weeks since the Walter Reed scandal hit the papers, stories of moldy barracks, broken wheelchairs, lack of access to doctors and indifferent politicians have flooded newspapers, websites, blogs and email chains.  Vets from the Vietnam conflict are adding their voices to the scores of vets from Iraq and Afghanistan who have been let down by the VA healthcare system.  Generals have been relieved of command, congressmen and women have expressed outrage and the pubic has demanded something be done.  But, once these first flames of scandal die down, will any significant changes actually take place?  Will our government and the politicians live up to their outrage and take the steps necessary to fix this broken military healthcare system?  Or will they simply move on to the next big issue and hope the wounded will go back to suffering in silence?  The poor treatment of our wounded soldiers is just another example of the way we have so often taken advantage of the men and women who volunteer to serve this country.   We expect them to serve, we expect young men and women to dedicate their lives to defending our nations, we expect them to fight when asked, then we expect them to just get on with their lives and not remind us of the wars they have fought.  That is a great disservice to the people who volunteered to put their lives in danger and who paid the price for our freedom and it must change.  Our troops need support not just when they’re in combat, but when they come home too.  Perhaps for those of us safe at home, the war ends once we turn off the evening news, but it doesn’t end there for those who marched in the jungles of Vietnam or patrolled the streets of Baghdad.  When you carry scars, the war never ends.

As the war in Iraq continues, our military is fighting a different kind of war.  The battle has changed form the wide desert expanse of Iraq and the streets of Baghdad to the hearts of the Iraqi people.  The fighting has changed from tanks and artillery meant to destroy the Republican Guard and topple Saddam Hussein to a war of goodwill.  This doesn’t mean that our service members are out of danger.  Insurgents and terrorists are still trying to undermine our mission in Iraq, but now we are fighting back by winning over the Iraqi people. 

For months, we have been hearing that the Iraqi people need to take responsibility for the future of their country.  No one wants to see the United States playing policemen in Iraq indefinitely.   It is going to take a new kind of warfare to make that happen.  The military is working now on developing social ties with the Iraqi leaders and people.  Our military is actively working on rebuilding the devastated country and helping the people to recover, not just from the aftermath of war, but from decades of oppression under Saddam Hussein.   

The United States is handing out money to local tribes to help the people rebuild.  They are paying social visits to local leaders and actively helping local communities.  All of these goodwill missions are designed to win the Iraqi people over to the American side.   Maybe it isn’t the kind of mission the members of our military trained for in boot camp, but this may prove to be the most decisive tactic in the war.  If we can show the Iraqi people the good that can come of a secure and democratic society, then maybe we can inspire them to take charge of their own destiny.   

The threat we face now is what will happen to Iraq when we leave.  Our troops won’t stay forever, but we can’t leave Iraq in a state of chaos and uncertainty.   Pulling out before a stable government is in place and the country is secure will only leave Iraq open to civil war and the rise of warlords, fundamentalists and terrorists.   Convincing the Iraqi people to become actively involved in the future of their country is the only way a lasting peace can be achieved. 

American troops are still patrolling the streets of hotspots like Ramadi and Hit in the Anbar province.  Military leaders report that the Iraqi people are happy to see American troops on patrol, that they are relieved to see us keeping them safe from the insurgents and that many of the local people don’t want us to leave.  But we can’t stay forever.  It’s time for the Iraqi people to step up and fight for their future.