I am beginning to wonder if the American public thinks former President Bush went ahead and brought home all 140,000 troops from Iraq as an inaugural gift for President Obama (you know, so Obama wouldn’t have to trouble himself with it) or if they simply forgot we were still there. Then again, considering the precipitous drop in media coverage of the war in Iraq (the war in Afghanistan was always under-covered in my opinion), who knows what most Americans think is going on in Iraq now.
For example, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Iraq composed 23 percent of network news stories in the first 10 weeks of 2007 but only three percent during that same period in 2008. For cable networks, it dropped from 24 percent to one percent. Conventional wisdom is that the American public has “lost interest†in the war. I find this troubling. If media coverage is the measure of American interest, we were never particularly interested in the war in Afghanistan and that was the source of the terrorist attacks that led to where we are today.
This lack of coverage—excuse me, “interest‖to date has reached a new low. On 26 January, there was a mid-air collision between two Kiowa helicopters outside of Kirkuk, Iraq, at approximately 2:15 AM. The collision resulted in the death of all four pilots—one of whom was the husband of a friend of mine.  My friend and her husband were happily married for many years and had several children together.  At 7 AM the following day, my friend was informed that the man she had spent nearly half of her life loving had died. At 7 AM, she went from being an Army wife to an Army widow; as did, potentially, three other spouses when those helicopters hit one another.
Meanwhile, aviation spouses around the country came together to support her, clicking closing ranks around her.  Many are making plans to go visit her, coming from all parts of the country to where she is.   Collectively, our hearts are breaking—not only for her loss, but for the losses sustained by all four families. The day after we learned of the collision, most of us remained somber, unable to shake the sadness of losing so many of our own in one night. This collision, like all crashes, was an unasked for and costly reminder of the dangers our loved ones face, and of the emotional Russian roulette we unwittingly play every time we know our soldier is going to fly: it was her husband today, it could be mine tomorrow.
Although this was the deadliest “incident†in Iraq for U.S. soldiers in four months and resulted in the loss of multi-million dollar airframes and soldiers whom the military had invested millions of dollars to recruit, promote, train, retain, and deploy, it did not grace the front page of any major news site after two PM CST Monday.  This life changing event for these four families was relegated to the Iraq war page on CNN’s, MSNBC’s, and yes, even FOX News’ websites. After looking for coverage of this collision, I went back and looked to see if any of these three sites had a single story on their main pages about the war in Iraq OR Afghanistan at all. None did.
Words get used like “war fatigue†to describe the American public and its waning interest. Americans are tired of hearing about war so if the media covers it (or so the logic goes), viewers or readers will tune out and/or go elsewhere for their news. Evidently, men and women dying overseas while carrying out our government’s foreign policy just got old.
War fatigue is a luxury not afforded the military community. Those four pilots volunteered to serve this country and their families supported this service. When we choose to love and support our servicemembers, we forego the ability to experience “war fatigue.â€Â Quite the opposite, we unwittingly facilitate this luxury for others by keeping the specter of a draft at bay as these wars grind on. In fact, I find it more than a little ironic that voluntary service, which protects Americans from having to face being sent to war involuntarily, seems to be appreciated less by our nation, as opposed to more. Instead, it leads to apathy and “war fatigue.â€Â I wonder if those who don’t feel like thinking about these wars realize why they are able to do so?
On behalf of every deployed servicemember as I write this—and on behalf of the families who love and support them—I would like to say to the American public, “your welcome.â€
Carissa Picard is a freelance writer whose husband is a medevac pilot currently serving in Iraq. Â
9 users commented in " War? What War? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThank you. As an American citizen, I know freedom isn’t free, a veteran made it possible. My father, my husband, brother, and friends all fought. I’d like all the troops brought home tomorrow. I wish they’d never been sent. American soldiers should never be used to fight civil wars in other parts of the world. Eisenhower warned against the dangers of the military complex becoming too strong in the U.S. when he was president. Kennedy said that he didn’t think we could win in Vietnam because in the end, “It was their war, whether it can be won or lost depends on them.”
I’m still not sure why we went back to Iraq, just that some very good men lost their lives there and left families grieving here. A lot of supply companies, manufacturing hardware, well someone made a lot of money cause we’ve spent an awful lot. Soldiers were paid less than those personal guards that some companies used over there. That was just plain wrong in my opinion.
Some of the veterans will never be the same like thousands of Vietnam veterans who still suffer to this day. I’m not a politician, just a citizen.
I appreciate the veterans who have fought so that we may enjoy the freedom we have today.
It saddened me today to hear that a 93 year old WWII veteran in Michigan lost his life. For an unpaid electric bill, they put a restrictor on his line, which shut off his electricity. They found him dead of hypothermia. Temperature was 32 degrees inside. Money to pay the bill and the bill itself on his kitchen table. Made me cry.
What kind of country is this when a 93 yr old WWII veteran, who fought for freedom, gets a death sentence for a $1000 electric bill and we’re bailing out in BILLIONS of dollars banks, companies, loan companies who all need bailed out because of GREED on the part of a few people.
Or to use another example, a $1000 electric bill is a death sentence for that WWII vet and someone who owes the IRS 35,000 gets a slap on the wrist and a cabinet position. Life’s funny isn’t it. Hard to take sometimes.
Please thank your husband and any other veteran you know. We do appreciate them and want them to return safely. Thank you.
I am sorry if there are unanswered questions about why we are in Iraq, but as a wife of a soldier, a cousin of a soldier, the daughter of a veteran, and the FREE AMERICAN I am able to be, I say thank you to all the troops that have faught and continue to fight, and if Clinton would have continued what Bush Sr. had in place, we never would have gone to Iraq. Instead, he spent his time in court defending his infedelity and pissing of the nations of the world, in turn….911! Anybody who wonders why we are over there, guess they lost noone that day.9 out of 10 soldiers over there agree they need to be. I live in the middle of the largest populated base in the world. Take some time and ask…then decide.
So to Iraq, Afghanastan, and any others that think they need to show us….We serve what you deserve.
By the way..our soldiers choose to be soldiers now…this isn’t the vietnam war anymore. Our veterans are now veterans by choice. My Father faught in vietnam and he has many problems, drugs and alcohol, mental illness, and the famous agent orange…this is not the same situation. Obama is not bringing troops home…sorry to inform the people that misunderstood him…he is transferring them to Afghanastan where he believes they need to be. Guess we got what yall voted for…
Monday morning on the news I heard a brief blurb about 2 helicopters that crashed near Kirkuk and 4 soldiers were killed. That was it. My future son-in-law is in Kirkuk and flies helicopters. My ears perked immediately. I got to work and emailed his dad to see if he had talked to his son that morning. He said he had just heard the story and sent an offline message to his son. All day Monday we scoured the internet and their news sources for current information. We knew there had been a crash and four were killed, but we couldn’t find out what helicopters were involved. The information all day was the same drivel released by the AP and other sources. It was a frustrating, gut wrenching day as we waited word. It wasn’t until late that evening when my daughter got a call from the FRG leader saying they had lost 4 troopers and who they were. One was my future son-in-law’s roommate. Another was his flying partner. Why was there not more coverage of this? Was it because it would make someone look bad?
The resulting heartbreak and realization that this could have been our loved one was an overwhelming emotion that has to be dealt with and I hope will subside in time.
The brave men are indeed heros. In my opinion, those who serve honorably in our military are all heros. The have chosen to fight to protect our rights, freedoms and safety. These fallen warriors and those that fly with them are professionals. They will pick up the pieces from this tragic loss and continue on for those who can’t. They will be better men and pilots because of this unfortunate and untimely accident.
My heart goes out to all of the families who lost their loved one. The feeling of their loss cannot be quelled by mere words at this time. I have a feeling though that these families are strong and boldly defend the decision their loved ones made to pursue military life. Its a way of life that not every marriage is cut out for. It takes very special people to be the spouse of a military soldier. They accept the potential dangers of this life. While these families mourn the loss of their hero, they can always know that while they soared with eagles for a short time, they are now on the ultimate mission.
God Bless our military and God Bless those those who support them.
They absolutely NEVER release any info until the family has been notified. In fact, every time there is death, my cousins base gets locked out of all communication, internet, phones,everything. Which I realize it makes it hard for those of us needing to know, I do understand the reasoning. It keeps the family from finding out in the wrong way. That’s pretty important.
My prayers and heart go out to these four brave soldiers families. The days ahead will be tough but please know that this family is praying for you. We are so grateful that your loved one served by choice and not by draft. I am still proud to stand next to my husband who served and is retired and by my son (who is a Kiowa pilot) and daughter (a Medical Services Officer)and say that they are the heroes of our country. I can live in the home of the brave and the free because they fight for our freedom and President Bush kept us from being attacked for 7 years. God bless President Bush and Laura. I cried as I watched them leave the White House and board the helicopter, the end of a great era and the beginning of ………………..you fill in the blanks. I am not proud to say that he is my commander in chief but I do know that God uses all kinds of people and this man too may think that he makes the decisions but truthfully he has no control. God has it all under control.
Dear Chryvine:
the only thing that the DoD does not release until NEXT OF KIN is notified is the personal information of the soldiers who died in the crash. The crash itself, however, is not kept a secret. I am not questioning the wisdom of keeping the identities of the soldiers private, I am talking about the lack of coverage on the crash altogether.
As I enter year six as an army aviator wife, I can assure you that helicopter crashes are not kept “secret” altogether (so long as it is not a ‘secret’ mission). Moreover, up until this recent collision, the crashes usually warrant a front page listing for a day’s news cycle.
Carrisa,
I agree with much of what you said about the media, although I have another thought to add to that.
In the past when a war fatality happened, it was all over the news, usually as an underhanded slap to President Bush. It was sensationalized by all the news agencies. Used by many to point a finger. Anything they could do to make Bush look bad they did. Now as our current president was being groomed for the job, of course the coverage begins to wane. Why, because the media doesn’t want to make him look bad. I had to erase what I had just written following my last statement because I went off on a tangent and this is not about the new president. Its about those who died and their lack of recognition. I know what these soldiers do, they do out of honor and duty. They don’t do it for the recognition, but in my opinion, they deserve it. When a military death happens, it makes all in the military pause and think, “there but for the grace of God go I.”
If our media would cover these things with the same energy they use to cover what scandal the latest Hollywood star is involved in, and they covered it with honor, respect and fairness, it would make the whole nation pause and honor those same soldiers.
While “war fatigue” may play a part, in my opinion, its the people who squash any negative news that could mar the utopia some people truly believe we are going to have for the next 4 years. The media needs to rearrange their priorities and honor these men and all our military with more zeal so the rest of the country can be proud rather than spiteful, calling this a “stupid war.” I wonder how much longer a soldier will be able to look a widow in the face and say, “On behalf of a grateful nation…”
Thank you for pointing that out. Yes, they release details about the crash but not identity is what I was really referring to in response to families sitting and waiting all day to make sure it wasn’t their loved one. Sorry I wasn’t specific on that. Thanks.
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