The Fading Stories of Iraq

Have you ever wondered whether a person can loose their want and desire for something, but that loss of interest was brought about by change. Have you even experienced those very emotions and thoughts? Have you created a dream in your mind that you were so sure that it would come true, but it was shattered by life’s winding roads of change? Is this where are soldiers’ minds are? Our soldiers are fighting for a war that our own political leaders believe is for no reason at all. What hope would that bring to you when motor shells are falling down upon your convoy? These very soldiers that have given their lives, minds, body and their hearts to the cause of freedom have slowly been forgotten by our media. They have been overshadowed by events, such as, the shooting at Virginia Tech, but aren’t the death of our soldiers also worth reporting or have we as a nation become numb by war?

What great controversy this subject brings to our nation, so much controversy that our own leaders do not really want to confront the situation in Iraq until now. However, there is a story that needs to be reflected upon …the untold soldiers of Iraq. As I researched this topic, I found that there are so many stories that are on USA Today, MSNBC, and many other news stations, however, these stories are told, but they are slowly leave our television sets. For example, Marine Sergeant Ty Ziegel’s convoy was bombed while he was on his second deployment to Iraq. He received serious injuries. His face and upper body was burned badly. He has had to receive multiple surgeries and a muscle in his back had to be graphed to his skull, because after the blast there wasn’t any skin on the top of his head or eye lids. The before and after pictures are astonishing, as I watched MSNBC’s Picture Stories, I wanted to cry, because I gained a new respect that day for our soldiers. Sergeant Ty Ziegel will never ever be the same

physically and mentally. However, his story is slowly fading from our television sets and computer screens.

Another Marine, Sam Reyes, will always be affected by this war. He remembers nothing of the suicide bomb attack that almost killed him on September 6, 2004. However, this is probably a good thing, because the attack killed twelve Marines and when the emergency personal arrived they found Sam Reyes barely hanging on for life. “ His arms, back, and head were pierced by shrapnel; his left arm was ripped open to the muscle; his stomach and spleen had been sliced; his ribs were broken, his face was badly burned, and his tongue had been cut in half (www.msnbc.com) “. He has recovered after months of hospitalization and recovery. The scars are less visible now; however, there is a permanent scar on his brain. Sam Reyes is only twenty-one, and because of the accident he has permanent brain damage to his memory. However, his story is slowly fading from the news reporters and the television set and the computer screens.