An Open Letter to the Mother Of John Marshall Cheatham

Dear Mrs. Cheatham,
As you are by now, no doubt aware, your son, John Marshall Cheatham was killed on July 26 as the result of a rocket-propelled grenade attack outside of Baghdad. You have my condolences. What you may not be aware of, however, is the fact that your son was one of only 10 (10! :-) ) U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq last month. As the American media has wasted no time in informing us, that's the lowest death toll enjoyed by the U.S. since we accomplished our mission of bringing freedom to the Iraqi people three years ago.

(What?! He lied to us?! And we thought he was such a nice boy.)

Since, at the age of 19, your son was the youngest soldier killed last month, I decided that you should be the recipient of this letter of congratulations. You must be very proud, Mrs. Cheatham, to be a part of such a singular moment in U.S. history. As you watch John's friends and classmates grow up, get married and start families of their own, try to suppress your pity, as they will never know the type of pride that you now enjoy and that would no doubt be shared by your son if he were still alive.

In the midst of all this mirth and celebration, however, it should be noted that, had your son managed to stay alive only a few more days, he would've made July 2008 even more of a banner month for the U.S. military, as it would've been the first time in years that citizen volunteers died only in the single digits (disregarding Afghanistan, suicides, and soldiers that return home or are airlifted to other countries before they die from their injuries which is, of course, a number that the government is not so anxious to report).

Despite the tremendous sense of joy that you're feeling right now, Mrs. Cheatham, you may at some point in the future feel yourself giving in to the kind of crushing despair that can only be known by those who have seen their children needlessly struck down in their prime. However, I hope you will find some solace in the fact that 1.) your son could very easily have died from a rocket-propelled grenade attack while living a quiet life at home in Arkansas and 2.) he died for a noble cause, and as soon as the government determines what that cause is, you will no doubt be the first to know.

Sincerely,
Blueneck Guy