Soldier sacrificed himself for others, not for WMDs
By Ruth Voshell Stonesifer
My son, Kristofor Stonesifer, was one of the first two soldiers to die in the war on
terror. My soldier son did not die for weapons of mass destruction.
The debate over why we fought a war in Iraq rages in the media with one expert after
another shouting to be heard. This endless second-guessing about these well-concealed
weapons has me frantically flipping channels to get away from it all.
The war on terror, which took my son's life, was, until recently, justified in most
Americans' minds. Kristofor died on the first night of Operation Enduring Freedom on a
dusty Pakistan airstrip in support of the Afghanistan invasion. It was payback time for
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and few people squabbled over those motives, unless you
consider the fact we never found Osama bin Laden.
My son was a quiet and thoughtful patriot. When I questioned him about Sept. 11, while he
was still at Fort Benning, Ga., and before he went overseas, he spoke only about his
fellow Army Rangers chomping at the bit to right the wrongs perpetrated on America that
day. But Kris expressed no such zeal.
I always found it hard to imagine he would be able to kill another human being. After his
death, it did not surprise me to hear that he had removed a cast from his ankle to be on
that plane bound for the Middle East. He wanted to be there to protect his buddies. That
is why he went, not to find some ringleader or a stockpile of weapons or chemicals. His
buddies would probably say the same.
Since my son died in the Middle East and I became a Gold Star Mother, I am more sensitive
to this current debate, along with the rest of the families whose sons or daughters did
not come home from this battle.
When we see reported on the news only the turmoil instead of the progress being made by
the Iraqi people, we feel intense frustration - even though we have been assured by
everyone from our President on down that our loved one who died in the line of duty is an
"American hero." We now begin to wonder if the other adage told to us is true:
that "they did not die in vain."
I can only trust my inner core of beliefs as a mother and human being.
Even if not one weapon or one gram of poison is found, I supported the efforts to
eradicate this dictator whose record on human rights was abominable. Seeing the mass
graves and the atrocities perpetrated on his people will always be enough justification
for me that we did the right thing in liberating the people of Iraq.
I had my reservations about embedding the media with the soldiers during the war to
liberate Iraq. My opinion changed as I saw the images they sent back to us of the American
servicemen giving water to dehydrated enemy soldiers, treating wounded Iraqi soldiers and
civilians, refusing to fire on mosques, and teaching the children a ridiculous song. Our
military men and women are our best ambassadors.
If my son, Kris, had been there in Iraq, he would have smiled and shown the children some
magic tricks. How can you hate someone who smiles?
Kris would have chosen to believe that he was going to fight a war to make a difference
for the children, giving them hope for a brighter future in which they will be free to
learn and follow their dreams. Maybe someday the Middle East region of the world will
achieve a lasting peace in which the only dilemmas people will face is what to name their
unborn children or what to serve for dinner.
I hope this current debate will soon give way to a renewed appreciation for the bigger
picture and our nation's role in spreading freedom where it is needed most, and that
history will record my son's death as having been in the service of this noble goal.