this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
we honor courage in all its forms
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
4 images and poem below the fold
A man on crutches passes a member of the Iraqi Police Service in the early morning mist outside a polling station in the town of Az Zubayr, in southern Iraq, Thursday Dec. 15, 2005. Elections for a 275-member National Assembly took place across Iraq on Thursday. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Heather Knapp holds a photo of Capt. Raymond D. Hill II posing with a group of Iraqi children Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005, during a tree dedication ceremony in Fort Stewart, Ga. for soldiers killed in action while serving with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Hill, 39, of Turlock, Calif., was killed Oct. 29 when a bomb detonated near his vehicle. The ceremony was the second largest for those killed in action while serving with the division. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
Joan Keefe, 84, left, and Jay Wenk, 79, pose in Wenk’s Woodstock, N.Y., home on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2005. Wenk is wearing with the Combat Infantry Badge that he received while in the Army during World War II. Wenk also received the Purple Heart. Wenk and Keefe, were arrested twice for distributing anti-enlistment fliers outside a mall-based military recruiting center. With one round of trespassing charges dismissed this week on technical grounds, they intend to risk arrest again. At an age when many old soldiers fade away, they promise to keep up their anti-Iraq war leafletting. (AP Photo/ Jim McKnight)
Demonstrators with the Christian Peacemakers Team group pray for their four fellow members held hostage in Iraq during a vigil at the entrance of the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2005. Demonstrators with the group are on a hunger strike outside the base to protest treatment of suspected terrorists held at the U.S. facility. (AP Photo/Scott Langley)
from In Memory of Sigmund Freud
by W. H. Auden
When there are so many we shall have to mourn,
when grief has been made so public, and exposed
to the critique of a whole epoch
the frailty of our conscience and anguish,
of whom shall we speak? For every day they die
among us, those who were doing us some good,
who knew it was never enough but
hoped to improve a little by living.
– – –
put a meaningful magnet on your car or metal filing cabinet
read Ilona’s important diary at MLW – Returning Vet PTSD – One Soldier’s Story as well the first in what she promises will be a comprehensive series on PTSD and Iraq War vets.
view the pbs newshour silent honor roll (with thanks to jimstaro at booman.)
take a private moment to light one candle among many (with thanks to TXSharon)
support Veterans for Peace
support the Iraqi people
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
remember the fallen
support Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors – TAPS
support Gold Star Families for Peace
support the fallen
support the troops
support Iraq Veterans Against the War
support Military families Speak Out
support the troops and the Iraqi people
read This is what John Kerry did today, the diary by lawnorder that prompted this series
read Riverbend’s Bagdhad Burning
read Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches
read Today in Iraq
witness every day
