Going off to war today versus the equivalent in 1945

If you've been following my Twitter  updates, you likely noted that this week I saw Maggie off to the desert (Iraq) until July. With a difficult goodbye came a lot of thinking and contemplation.

Imagine going off to fight in World War II. How long was your tour of duty? The length of the war. Which, depending on when you departed, could be up to four years. Telephones? Email? Instant messaging? No, no and, obviously, no. You wrote home, what, every two months and hoped to received a treasured piece of mail about your child's first birthday that is now months in the past.

Flash forward to 2008. I've already talked to Maggie as if she were on a phone just ten minutes away. I know that when she arrives at Balad Air Base she'll have Internet access, satellite telephones, a digital camera and more of the devices that we use to stay connected in the an age of global dispersion. I know that she'll be coming home in July no matter how much this war protracts.

I don't, for a second, deny the great personal risk taken by the members of the military that have spent time in Iraq, Afghanistan or Djibouti. Watching members of the Army pulled away from their families for up to fifteen months, returned for twelve and pulled away for another fifteen months has left me bitter at the human cost of this war. My position on our presence in Iraq is ambivalent and nuanced at best; it's also strongly influenced by what I've seen as the true cost paid by other American families. I am, however, thankful for how things have changed in the past sixty-three years.

And, while we are on this topic, some resources for those interested: Balad Air Base, called LSA Anaconda by everyone but the Air Force (Logistical Support Area), is roughly fifty miles north of Baghdad. Its flight line is currently considered the second busiest airport in the entire world, including commercial terminals! Maggie is running intel support for the 48th Rescue Squadron, a unit of Pararescue (awesome wikipedia page). For some photos of the base:

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All shots are of the base. Some from Flickr User MASSIVE DEFEAT (I can't help but wonder about that username) and some from Flickr User James Gordon. All, as usual, under Creative Commons. Have you donated your content to CC yet?

Comments

[MASSIVE DEFEAT]

Wonder all you like; I've been using it - in reference to a particularly painful morning after a big night out - since before I came to Iraq, back in 2005. Good ups to your girl; she's got a tough job!

Also, you should know that "James Gordon" is a big massive leech of any photos on Iraq, and they're not his. I've had to go jump through the hoops to get him to take down some of my stuff that he had posted with all rights reserved. Thought you might want to know, since you're a fan of CC.

Last but not least, glad you liked the photos (although trailers have way more T-walls around them than they did back when that was taken,) and thank you for crediting them!

--Tam

[Jeff Maurone]

Hi Tam,

Thanks for the comment! Good pointers on the ”James Gordon” account. I reviewed his photostream today – my goodness there are some great shots on there. Too bad they are pilfered. It’s funny, too: he claims “Government Photographer” as his title. Surprising. Thanks for making the photos available under CC!

Ahh, my wondering suspected your username suggested an opinion about the Iraq war. Thanks for clarifiying!

Good luck in Iraq and thanks, again, for the note.

Jeff