Mike McGuire is the head of a unit that disables Improvised explosive devices. If you have seen The Hurt Locker you have some idea of the job he does. Some idea.

He’s currently stationed in Afghanistan but has previously served tours in Iraq. I know of him only because he became a pen pal and personal friend of Peter King, the Football Sports Columnist for Sports Illustrated and TV Football analyst on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Sgt. McGuire is a big Sports fan, as you can imagine

On occasion, Peter King publishes emails he receives from Mike McGuire. Today he published Sgt. McGuire’s email regarding his thoughts about the killing of Osama bin Laden. If you thought the Sergeant would be gloating or cheering about the death of Bin Laden, the man who terrorized our country and killed so many people you might be surprised by his reaction. Here it is, from Mr. King’s Monday Morning Quarterback Column this morning:

“Peter:

“My thoughts…

“Bin Laden dead brings closure to a situation that started it all. More than anything it makes me miss the Soldiers I have lost over the past three deployments: SGT Bevington, SPC Connelly, SGT McHale and others. That is not to exclude my guys that lost their legs, lost eyes, and to top it off all the mental issues they have now. These young soldiers will never be the same person again. They are changed. There is an attitude about them that most will not get, a sadness they carry every day, just like me.

“We take pride in what we do. Every soldier who puts on a uniform is my brother. I would not trade much of what has happened over the last six years except bring back my men. The war has changed me. I am short-tempered, I curse more now, I can eat dinner in under three minutes. More than anything, I am ashamed of the fact that I missed my kids growing up, my son getting commissioned in the Army, my daughter getting married, my other daughter graduating, and many other issues.

“But I am alive. I am going to make the best of it and make up for all this lost time. This is my last deployment. I am focusing on my men and women to give them all the tools to survive over here. But also I am counting the days until retirement.

“Just rambling. Sorry. Take care,

“Mike.”

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/05/08/mmqb/index.html#ixzz1LqpFftyJ

More than anything I have read about the death of Osama bln Laden over the past week, Sgt. Mike McGuire’s comments struck me the hardest. We, as a country, have asked a great deal of the men and women who serve in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly the ground troops. When I say we, I mean we the American people collectively. For we have elected the Presidents and the Congressional Members who authorized and funded these wars. Our representatives, and they our ours collectively, continue to place these men and women, many of them quite young, others, such as Sgt. McGuire middle-aged, in harm’s way.

All too often we celebrate their victories or deplore the wars in which they fight, depending on our respective political views. However, I don’t wish to make this a merely a political diary about the good or bad choices that have been made regarding these wars, and who is to blame for the many “failures” and who deserves credit for “victories.” It was the choices of our leaders, leaders we elected, democrats and republicans, who sent these men and women to serve in combat. They and their families have sacrificed more than we can imagine. We all bear some responsibility for that fact.

They did what we, collectively, as a nation, asked them to do. They did so out of a sense of patriotism, and as a direct result o the attacks by Al Qaeda on our country on 9/11. All too often they have been treated shabbily by our government, the government we the people elected. I won’t go into the details of the Walter Reed Hospital scandal or the failure of the Military to adequately address the large number of brain injuries and the host of mental disorders, primarily Depression and Post Traumatic stress Disorder (PTSD) from which so many of these troops suffer, nor the many other horrible things that have ruined many of their lives and certainly forever changed them. Those are well documented and don’t bear re-hashing here.

Many Americans were rightly proud that we finally “got” Osama Bin Laden last Sunday. Many political partisans have fought over who deserves the credit for that mission. I myself have been caught up in the media feeding frenzy over these matters as have many of you and many on the right.

The truth is, however, that the best response I have read about the death of bin Laden came from Sergeant Mike McGuire. He didn’t speak about what a great victory this was for our country. He didn’t claim credit for himself or the other soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who have fought in these wars to which they have been deployed, many of them multiple times, nor did he think about which political leaders should get the “credit” or “blame” for the nearly ten years we have been engaged in fighting wars ostensibly to avenge the attacks of 9/11 and to bring the terrorists who committed those acts of murder to justice.

No, his thoughts were for the losses he and the men and women under his command and their families have suffered. Grave losses, terrible losses. Losses that we, as a nation, collectively through our political representatives, asked them to make.

I hope and pray that we and the leaders we elect in the future take those losses into account the next time they make decisions regarding sending our people, the members of our military, to fight another war. For when we go to war we destroy lives.

Lives of the people who live in the places we attack with military force and the lives of the members of our armed forces and their loved ones. It cannot be stated too often that we as a nation, our political leaders, our media and many of us failed to consider the terrible costs of these wars before we embarked upon them, though there were a few lone voices who tried to warn us regarding the true cost of war, on our nation and especially on the members of our military.

I hope and pray that we, as a nation, do the right thing for these warriors who we placed in this situation. At a minimum, we must insist upon adequate treatment for great harm and many injuries, physical, psychological and spiritual these men and women have suffered. To date, we have not done nearly enough and I fear that all too soon we will forget the sacrifices and the pain and the horror that we, as a nation, asked our fellow countrymen to endure.

So, I hope that Sergeant Mike McGuire’s words can be the ones we remember most often when we look back over the last ten years of war and conflict at abroad. I know that they ring truer to me than all the political platitudes of pompous politicians and media personalities, and all the selfish grabbing after glory that I have seen expressed so often over these last few days.

Ps. I have one final request. Out of respect for anyone who has members of their family that serve in the military or who has lost loved ones because of these horrible wars, please, no flame wars or spiteful comments. This is not the time.

Thank you.