In The Service of the queen

CBFTW,
Yours is a voice that many have heard.
We have not simply heard what you have said;
we have, and continue to, listen to what you are saying.
Far too often we simply carry on an inner dialogue
when someone else speaks tore hearse what we
will say when they finish.

This war on terrorism
will be with us for some time, so I offer an open l
etter to the generation I will pass this burden on
to.I believe that we are making progress in Iraq
and in Afghanistan. Despite the ravings of pundits
and uninformed ambulance chasers, this fight doesn't
hinge on oil or payback. It isn't about religion or race.
And it damn sure is not about any innate desire to
rule the world. These people will succeed or fail on
their own merits.

The task is daunting. You can release
a person from bondage. You can remove a tyrant
from power. You can create the conditions for liberty.
But, you cannot simply grant or proclaim freedom.
Freedom without honest action is a whisper in a storm
just as change without vision and purpose is the
illusion of progress.

For ages these people were l
iterally beaten to the point of submission by oppression,
censure, murder, torture, and rape - regardless of
age or gender.I have asked myself why they let it
happen. The only answer I can fathom is that evil
flourished because good people refused to pay the
price required to oppose it. Sure, it's easy now to
pontificate and blame the poor and down trodden
for their collective indifference, but forgive my sarcasm
- I think we owe them more than a couple of days
to realize that their hopes and dreams have a chance
to grow and one day flourish.

No amount of rhetoric
and no pressing agenda will change the fact that
time is required to help heal these people and that
ancientgrievances require redress. Make no mistake:
I'm no crusader -I do what I do because I am a
professional soldier. For me it's been simple:protect
the innocent, punish the deserving, accomplish my
mission and bring my men home, period.

As Sting
said "Poets, Priests, and Politicians have words to
thank for their positions." For a soldier it is black and
white: deeds not words. If you need words to better
illustrate, the Latin mottos of two Infantry Regiments
I have served in will suffice: "Sua Sponte" and
"NeDesit Virtus": Of their own accord and Let Valour
not fail. Or in true cowboy fashion: Saddle your
own horse, cull your own herd, and bury your own
dead.

The threat we face is like nothing we've seen
before. I've been in the streets with this enemy,
fought him face to face, and have been lucky enough
to kill him and come out alive. I have seen what
he is capable of doing and the zeal with which he
will do it.

This threat won't fit neatly into "the box"
or be governed by any paradigm.It is a cancer within
our collective body as the human race. We are all
threatened by this evil, and evil it is. This enemy has
twisted and distorted things both sacred and profane
to guide as well as justify its means and its stated
end. Nothing is beyond the realm of the possible
when it comes to the depths to which it will sink,
the horror it is willing to commit, or the suffering it
is willing to inflict.

This enemy has no concept of
mercy nor does it recognize combatants. Innocence
is not a factor. You need only look at the headlines
of the day to confirm that children, teachers, and
doctors are murdered everyday by these villains.
What makes them evil? I submit that it is not the
act that earns them the epithet of evil - it is the intent
to commit and the pride they draw from the act.


These animals revel in the post act announcements
that they are responsible. Theyfeel vindicated by the
proclamations that they perpetrated these horrors
in the name of God and that having committed these
acts some howelevates them. Make no mistake; this
enemy isformidable but by no means invincible.
To defeat this cancer requires the one thing that
civilized people all over the world possess in absolute
abundance - The will. The will to be free can onlybe
surrendered by the person that has it - it cannot
be murdered, raped, tortured, or stolen. It's not
about being a martyr or a saint; it's about being a
decent human being.

And, the unvarnished truth is
that the killing and the horror will continue until those
with the will to endure prevail.I am a simple soldier,
proud to serve, but my days in the service of the
Queen are drawing to a close. Soon all of the cold
war junkies will also be goneand you myfriends and
your band of X generation anti-heroes will have the
reigns. Like it or not, you are now the fulcrum upon
which the balance beam rests.

I will tell you that the
outlook is damn good. I am absolutely humbled every
day to have the rare privilege to march among the
young men and women who chose to give soldiering
a try. None finer have ever serve under the colours.
Beware theonslaught of false prophets who preach
the one size fits all solution.

Look beneath the facade
of their self proclaimed patriotism, peel back the shield
of their dogma, and you are likely to find a charlatan
malcontent who was passed over for some accolade
he feels he richly deserved or a flim-flam artist who
knows a chance to make a buck when he sees it. They
don't have the will to endure. The will to be free comes
at a heavyprice. For some it is more than they can
bear. Divorce, estrangement, financial burdens, health
problems, depression, and even suicide are very
real costs.

Sacrifice is rarely recognized for what it
truly is because the price of recognitionis guilt. Parades,
giving medals, issuing promotions,and rousing speeches
are simply the thin veneer that masks the desperate
need of those who are kept free by our endeavours
for absolution from this guilt.

Adam Duritz wrote in
the song Mrs. Potter's Lullaby "the price of a memory
is the memory of the sorrow it brings.” I submit that i
t is our love of freedom, the embrace of our wives or
sweethearts, the love of our childrenor family, and
the earned respect of our brothersin arms that cast
the walls that make the will to endure a fortress that
can never be taken. I will be proud to stand the watch
until my time is at an end, but soon you will mount
the rampartsand stand the watch alone. In closing,

I leave you with the words of Marcus Aurelius
"Thinkof yourself as dead. You have lived your life.
Now, take what's left and live it properly. Whatdoesn't
transmit light creates its own darkness."

Respectfully,
Knute Lombatton