The announcement that the name of the soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan was to be released to the public disturbed me. I don’t for one minute condone what happened, however these are extrordinary circumstances. I can’t even watch movies that portray the horrors of war.

This soldier was on his fourth tour of duty! Most of us have no idea of  the level of atrocities he has experienced while simply serving his country. The tragedy that engulfs a soldier 24/7 while they are deployed is inconceivable. I don’t give him a pass. Most members of our military manage to keep it together. I am surprised however that more of them don’t lose it!

And what about his family? The man has a wife and children. I pray that the military has a dedicated support system in place for them. There has to be some compassion extended to his family. Haven’t they already given enough?

War is ugly and we’ve been at war for over 10 years. How long will it take for our military families to heal from the enormous price they’ve paid defending our freedoms? What can we do to help them?

There are no easy answers or pat remedies for the consequences of war. It just makes me sad. Sad and angry.

This situation troubled me since I first heard about it. Today I read an article in the NY Times about the blog his wife has been writing. It made me scream through my tears. I don’t know them, but my heart breaks for them. Was it really necessary to release his name?  Don’t we owe that family some consideration?

Despite what he is accused of doing, I want to thank him for laying down his life to protect me. I want to apologize to him that we (our country) put him in such a “no win” situation. And I want he and his family to know that I will be praying for them. My prayers are also extended to the families of the Afghan families who lost loved ones.

War is ugly…very ugly and there are many living casualties because of it.

P.S. I wrote this last week…it didn’t seem to fit the theme of my Blog. Today I read an open letter written to the wife  of Sgt. Bales  and after posting this in the comments section of  wittylittlesecret.com I decided to go for it. I’m calling it “my other random thoughts”…