This is my response to an email I received regarding an article written for the Tennessean News and a response made by one of its readers.
An excerpt:“My wife and I attended funeral services for Christian's father, Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, on April 4, along with our six year-old son, dozens of Marines, and several hundred others who came to pay tribute to this fallen hero.
As one would expect, many of your readers were touched by this incredible picture. Staff Sergeant Golczynski had previously served one full tour in Iraq. Shortly before his death on March 27 he wrote to his family that he had volunteered to do this a second time due to our deep desire to finish the job we started. In his letter he said, "We fight and sometimes die so that our families don't have to." Tragically, Staff Sergeant Golczynski had only two weeks remaining on his second tour. We look at the photograph of Christian every day. It is displayed prominently in our home. Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict.
Our nation is at a historical crossroads. Do we call an end to the struggle in Iraq or press on? Staff Sergeant Golczynski eloquently told his son how he felt about not giving up. Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us in this man's life and the choices he made. He was undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction. America must now choose whether to complete the job.
When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right. Christian's dad knew that too.”
As this email states, "When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right."
It is an emotional and thought provoking picture.
In the very first place we should not have gone to war. This was the easy thing for Bush and Cheney, et al, to do. Now, the hard thing, not easy, is to admit you were wrong, understanding that you are following a iniquitous and futile course, to continue is only going to take more lives and create more grief in our country. Grief, as is so vividly displayed on the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
When I look into (not at) the face of Christian Golcyzynski, I am reminded of the fact that Mr. Bush has put in force a premeditated, preemptive war, one not out of necessity but because of an ideology, with dishonesty, and with trumped-up reasoning, that simply was not the right thing, and certainly not moral. It was the easy choice when compared to the difficult and more sophisticated work of resisting the hawks and finding a better solution; that would have been the "Hard Work” our Mr. Bush is always talking about. What America needs is resilience, which is hard, but right and moral. Resilience is needed in every conflict to avoid a not well thought-out and chaotic confrontation; resilience, in order to make the right choice: a choice of probity, to abort the mission in Iraq.
As with Matthew Bean, you and me -- "We the People" -- are complicit in the death of Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, and we are collectively responsible for the grief of Christian.
The subliminal and insidious message of this email promotes war as being noble and necessary, which it is not. Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski is “undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction” a noble man, but those, “We the People,” who put him in harms way, and those who imbue Marcus and Americans with the “pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war,” are not. We need in America men and women of courage and conviction, men and women of noble character; the way we sustain them is certainly not by killing them.
Commendations and a ceremonially folded flag are not much of a replacement for a man’s future, for taking all his possessions, or for causing the trauma inflicted on children such as Christian.
“There is a lesson for all of us in this man’s life and the choices he made.” Sergeant Golczynski would have contributed much more to the commitment of a better America if he had not gone to war, and instead, as a father, provided leadership and nurturing for his son.
“It's been said that one picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is this one worth?”
I can only say, it certainly is worth a thousand words, and that there are not enough words that can authentically describe the immorality of this war, or what I see when I look into the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
How badly do “Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict?” I say, apparently, our hearts do not ache badly enough to make a difference.
An excerpt:“My wife and I attended funeral services for Christian's father, Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, on April 4, along with our six year-old son, dozens of Marines, and several hundred others who came to pay tribute to this fallen hero.
As one would expect, many of your readers were touched by this incredible picture. Staff Sergeant Golczynski had previously served one full tour in Iraq. Shortly before his death on March 27 he wrote to his family that he had volunteered to do this a second time due to our deep desire to finish the job we started. In his letter he said, "We fight and sometimes die so that our families don't have to." Tragically, Staff Sergeant Golczynski had only two weeks remaining on his second tour. We look at the photograph of Christian every day. It is displayed prominently in our home. Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict.
Our nation is at a historical crossroads. Do we call an end to the struggle in Iraq or press on? Staff Sergeant Golczynski eloquently told his son how he felt about not giving up. Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us in this man's life and the choices he made. He was undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction. America must now choose whether to complete the job.
When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right. Christian's dad knew that too.”
As this email states, "When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right."
It is an emotional and thought provoking picture.
In the very first place we should not have gone to war. This was the easy thing for Bush and Cheney, et al, to do. Now, the hard thing, not easy, is to admit you were wrong, understanding that you are following a iniquitous and futile course, to continue is only going to take more lives and create more grief in our country. Grief, as is so vividly displayed on the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
When I look into (not at) the face of Christian Golcyzynski, I am reminded of the fact that Mr. Bush has put in force a premeditated, preemptive war, one not out of necessity but because of an ideology, with dishonesty, and with trumped-up reasoning, that simply was not the right thing, and certainly not moral. It was the easy choice when compared to the difficult and more sophisticated work of resisting the hawks and finding a better solution; that would have been the "Hard Work” our Mr. Bush is always talking about. What America needs is resilience, which is hard, but right and moral. Resilience is needed in every conflict to avoid a not well thought-out and chaotic confrontation; resilience, in order to make the right choice: a choice of probity, to abort the mission in Iraq.
As with Matthew Bean, you and me -- "We the People" -- are complicit in the death of Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, and we are collectively responsible for the grief of Christian.
The subliminal and insidious message of this email promotes war as being noble and necessary, which it is not. Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski is “undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction” a noble man, but those, “We the People,” who put him in harms way, and those who imbue Marcus and Americans with the “pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war,” are not. We need in America men and women of courage and conviction, men and women of noble character; the way we sustain them is certainly not by killing them.
Commendations and a ceremonially folded flag are not much of a replacement for a man’s future, for taking all his possessions, or for causing the trauma inflicted on children such as Christian.
“There is a lesson for all of us in this man’s life and the choices he made.” Sergeant Golczynski would have contributed much more to the commitment of a better America if he had not gone to war, and instead, as a father, provided leadership and nurturing for his son.
“It's been said that one picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is this one worth?”
I can only say, it certainly is worth a thousand words, and that there are not enough words that can authentically describe the immorality of this war, or what I see when I look into the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
How badly do “Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict?” I say, apparently, our hearts do not ache badly enough to make a difference.
