A Battlefield Tourist

No Ma’am, They Won’t Be Forgotten

Oct 11 at 10:10am by David Tate

                                                                           Survivor of the Battle for COP Keating in the mountains of Nuristan.

I just received a note from the mother of a survivor from Keating and it seems there’s a concern that the sacrifice will be for nothing.  While I cannot change the world, I certainly can do my part to prevent that fear from becoming reality.  Here’s the note:

Since I found out about this attack I have been glued to the internet looking for any piece of info- perhaps so it will start making more sense. My heart really aches for these guys. People have been so kind and  supportive and I think that is the only way their mental anguish will began to heal.

I believe that one of their biggest needs is to know that the fight and loss of life will not be forgotten and was not done without a purpose. This unit that lost 8 men only had 30 guys to start with, so as you can well imagine, they were a tight knit group. They have to be asking themselves “why?” I sure wish I could ease some pain for them. Sleep for my son, and I am sure for most of them, has not come easily since the battle. I can not to begin to imagine what it must be like to try to close your eyes and relax after what they have been through. I could go on and on…..

I have attached a picture of some of the soldiers from KEATING. They were only eating once a day so I shipped $500.00 worth of groceries to them and the picture was in response to that. ( 2 of the men in the picture were KIA).

 
When *** ( my son) first got there he asked for blankets because what they had were not sufficient.  So I had sent 30 blankets, 100s of batteries, 60 DVDs abd countless baby wipes. Not sure why I am telling you all that, but to let you know their life has not been easy since they landed there.

Thank you for your concern and prayers, it means so much to me.

KIA 10-03-09

Sgt. Joshua Hardt
Sgt. Justin Gallegos
SSgt. Vernon Martin
Spc. Christopher Griffin
Sgt. Michael Susca
Sgt. Joshua Kirk
PFC  Kevin Thomson
PFC Brandon Owens