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Sgt. Scott Stream, of
Mattoon, Illinois, second from left, is one of two
members of the Illinois Guard's 33rd Infantry
Brigade Combat Team killed by an improvised
explosive device February 24, 2009, in Kandahar,
Afghanistan. (Family
photo / February 26, 2009) |
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It is difficult to believe,
but there actually are some genuinely fine men of
the highest character from the State of Illinois.
They are genuine Americans, not creatures of the
world. |
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These genuine men personify
the finest traditions and are made of the standards
and ideals that built the United States Of America. |
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We should each substantively thank
all of these men -- these Great Americans from all
ends and corners of the USA. We should
comprehend, and never stop recognizing, the
sacrifices of those who do not return, those who
return damaged, and those return to productively continue
their worthy lives. All of these genuine Americans have sacrificed and
must be recognized for what they contributed so that
we might continue living in relative peace. |
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We should question ourselves
every day: Are we worthy of these men's hopes
and sacrifices? For many of us the answer is no. |
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These men were wise enough to
perceive the greatness of the USA and aspire to be a
part of -- and contribute to -- that greatness.
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Other men who are more popular
and frequently in the news, are too often of little
or mal-character. They see only human frailties in
the USA. These mal-charactered aspire to damage,
dismantle, destroy, and take from any greatness that
remains in the USA. |
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The following is a letter that
Sergeant Scott Stream wrote to a friend on New
Year's Eve, just weeks before he was killed. |
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Wednesday, December
31, 2008 at 9:30am
A strange thing... |
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When I think about
what surrounds me, the institutional corruption, the
random violence, the fear and desperation. I feel
the reasons why I am here more and more sharply. As
we grow in our soldiers skills, surviving by finding
the hidden dangers, seeing the secret motives and
the shifting politics... we grow a set of skills
that is unique and powerful in this situation.
We also see what you
cannot see in the States, you are surrounded by the
love of Christ and faith in freedom and humanity,
like a fish you think water is 'a puff of air'
because it is always there, you do not notice it...
we who are out of the water look back and see the
world we love surrounded by enemies, poison and envy
that wants to fall on you like a storm of ruin.
We who joined with
vague notions of protecting our country see how
desperate the peril, how hungry the enemy and how
frail the security we have is. So the more I love
you all the more I feel I must keep fighting for
you. The more I love and long for home the more
right I feel here on the front line standing between
you and the seething madness that wants to suck the
life and love out of our land.
Does that mean I
cannot go home? I hope not, because I want this just
to be the postponement of the joy of life, not the
sacrifice of mine. If it costs me my life to protect
our land and people then that is a small thing, I
just hope that fate lets me return to the promise
land and remind people just how great our land is.
War is a young
mans game, and I am getting an old mans head... it
is a strange thing. I just hope that I am not
changed so that I cannot take joy in the land inside
the wire when I make it home. I want to be with you
all again and let my gun sit in the rack and float
on my back in a tube down a lazy river.... |
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