War in Colorado

Colorado Springs has 5 large military installations. Fort Carson Army Base, Peterson Air Force Base, United States Air Force Academy, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and Schriever Air Force Base. I was completely unaware of the effect this large military presence would have on me when we moved here (we are one of very few people in our neighborhood whose job is not related to the military in some way).

I am embarrassed to admit this, but before we moved here I had a negative opinion of the military. That opinion was fed mostly by the media who portrays the military as uneducated, harsh, men who enjoy inflicting pain. How very wrong that is. I am surrounded by men and women who are leaders in the military. Our bishopric is made up entirely of retired officers and the YW secretary is a Lieutenant Colonel. They are honest, generous, faithful, intelligent, hard working, warm loving people. I have never had better neighbors than those we have now.

I have a good friend whose husband has been in Iraq for 6 months and will be gone 6 more months. She has 5 kids under age 11. He is an Army doctor in the trauma center where he works on soldiers and Iraqis. Recently he worked on an Iraqi who planted a roadside bomb, was hurt and sent to Adam for help. He helped him. Watching his wife, Liz, get through this as gracefully and calm as she can is inspiring. Many of the moms at the bus stop are officers or officer's wives. After the bus leaves they stand around with their coffee mugs and talk about deployments and assignments the same way I talk about my husband’s business trips. My next door neighbor was in Iraq last year leaving behind his 2 teenage kids. I get an email every other week from a man in our ward who is a police officer in Iraq – he has 2 teenage sons. He sends stories and pictures of his interactions with the Iraqi people – mostly uplifting and always fascinating.

Right after we moved here we were at a party and I asked a handsome guy what he did and he casually said:
"I work at Space Command."
I was amazed and immediately asked, "Wow! What do you do there!?"
"Sorry, I can't tell you." he said, with a smile.
That has happened several times and I still get a little James Bond thrill from it. Infact, if they don't say "Space Command" I feel a little disappointed.

These people have shared experiences with me, both good and bad, about the war. Nearly everyday there is a front page personal story about the war. Most of the time they are obituaries and I am compelled to read every word. The media here handles the war in a patriotic supportive way, but they don't shield us from the gory details. They also do a much better job of sharing the good stuff that is happening in Iraq due to our presence there.

Many Americans have disconnected with the war. They are tired of hearing about it and it is so very far away, it hardly affects the daily life of most Americans – besides, there is the tragedy of Britney Spears to think about.

Do you have a family member there? Have you been asked to grow a victory garden? Or give up all your medal so they can melt it down for ammunition? If every American could experience living here during war time, having friends and neighbors who are affected by it as mine are, there wouldn’t be such a disconnect.

I am sure I wouldn’t have this opinion if we still lived in Boise.