"Why I Joined": A Soldier’s Story In His Own Words

"And so we watch with detached curiosity, from dry land, to see whether the Iraqis will sink or swim. For shame." -- Christopher Hitchens

Posted by Lt. Mark Daily at MySpace.com.


Christopher Hitchens, writing in the November 2007 issue of Vanity Fair, tells us a heart-rending story about the death of Lt. Mark Daily in Iraq. Hitchens, the liberal who pressed for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein more loudly than any conservative dared to do, was confronted with the consequences of his unequivocal call for regime change when he learned that Lt. Daily took his words to heart and considered them as reason enough to oust Saddam and his Baathist thugs.

Christopher Hitchens is my favorite writer of this age.  His wordsmithing alone qualifies him for that praise.  But what sets him apart from other commentators is his bravery (not bravado) in advancing his views and positions.  Lt. Daily evidently admired Mr. Hitchens as well -- well enough to quote him, and more importantly, to believe in his message.

And so it happened then that when Mr. Hitchens learned of Mark Daily's fate, he felt the pain and anguish of perhaps being partly responsible for this young soldier's death. It is one thing to advocate war from within the safe confines of a typewriter carriage.  But to know that a soldier took the typed page and made it part of his battle creed has to be haunting.

Lt. Daily was killed by a cowardly weapon -- the land mine. In the Iraq war, however, we do not hear the term "land mine" mentioned. In the newspeak of terror war, we refer to these bombs as IEDs -- improvised explosive devices.

Thankfully, IUD was already in use or our soldiers would have to be on the lookout for improvised underground devices.

At his MySpace.com page, Lt. Daily wrote a passionate essay titled "Why I Joined."  He also was kind enough to summarize his reasons for joining the army and going to Iraq by telling his readers to watch the movie "Schindler's List" followed by "Saving Private Ryan."

The young lieutenant was not a hero in the traditional sense of the word, but I would describe him as heroic -- a more fitting word, perhaps.

Oskar Schindler was not a hero, but he was heroic.  Capt. John H. Miller was not a hero, but he was heroic.  And so on.

Lt. Daily went off to fight a war for a noble reason -- that of ridding an oppressed people of their dictator.  He did not go off to war to loot and plunder.  And that is a major difference in the pursuit of warfare that differentiates the American soldier from the hordes of masquerading butchers and thieves who permeate the history books.

Mr. Hitchens article, "A Death in the Family," recounts his meeting Lt. Daily's family.  He wasn't sure at the outset whether he should even make the attempt to contact them.  And if he did so, he had no idea of how to phrase his greeting.

There was no established protocol to guide his introducing himself to this family in mourning.  Nor did Emily Post's provisos lend any advice specific to the situation.  But he felt strongly that, given the circumstance, he needed to make the effort even if the Dailys rejected his condolences out of hand.

We are fortunate that Mr. Hitchens persevered.  The story that he wrote is the final chapter that every soldier's family lives through when bidding adieu to a beloved son or daughter who was killed in combat.

"A Death in the Family" comes to a close on a windswept Oregon beach, the locale where Mark Daily wished his ashes be strewn.  Mr. Hitchens joined the Daily family there for the ceremony, and he read a fitting passage about the death of a soldier from Shakespeare's "Macbeth".

This is all I want to tell you about Mark Daily in this column.  His words are the words you should be reading.  For regardless of your opinion of war, you should avail yourself to hear the soldier's opinion.  You will find it interesting.




Lt. Mark Daily at MySpace.com   http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=46348938

"A Death in the Family" can be found at   http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/hitchens200711?currentPage=1   or   www.hitchensweb.com

David Allen’s Top 10 Predictions for 2008

10. At the request of Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglas, Al Gore will perform rain dances in drought-stricken Mason County. Commissioner Douglas will have a cameo role in Gore’s next documentary: "An Inconvenient Flash Flood".

9. BrickStreet Insurance loses its monopoly for underwriting workers compensation coverage in July and will face heavy competition from major insurers such as Aetna (dba Cobblestone Street Insurance), The Hartford (dba Elk Crossing Guaranty), Liberty Mutual (dba Blacktopped Boulevard Insurance), and Berkshire Hathaway (Cul-De-Sac LLC). By year end, BrickStreet will have reinvented itself as RoadPavedWithGoodIntentions Insurance Company.

8. For the fifth time, President Bush will visit West Virginia on the 4th of July. When asked what he plans to do in retirement, he will answer, "I wanna work on takin’ the "Duh" out of "Dubya."

7. The Democratic primary outcome will hinge on the gun control issue. Dennis Kucinich, who claims that he has seen UFO’s, will win the WV primary presidential nomination in a romp after promising to defend the right to own and bear ray guns.

6. Come Spring, the "Rachel Ray Show" will discover ramps. Rachel airs live from the Richwood Ramp Festival. Ms. Ray will prepare garlic-fried ramps, gnocchi, and mountain oysters with Marinara sauce.

5. Wal Mart has saturated West Virginia with Super Wal Mart stores. In 2008, the retailer will expand its market share by opening 250 convenience stores and selling cheap, leaded gasoline made in China.

4. The Republican primary results will surprise everybody. Fred Thompson will be nominated for Prosecuting Attorney in all 55 counties.

3. West Virginia will retain its moniker "Judicial Hellhole" as a result of Nitro resident Arthur Treacher suing Long John Silvers for deceptive advertising. Treacher will claim that he is allergic to seafood but that his takeout order of shrimp and lobster didn’t so much as give him a mild case of hives. Long John Silvers will declare bankruptcy after being forced to reveal its food sources. The jury will award Treacher $10 million plus unlimited fries for life.

2. Ang Lee will win the Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or award for "Brokeback Mountaintop Removal", his touching story of two environmentalists fighting to stop coal mining. Starring Rosie O’Donnell and Paris Hilton. Filmed on location at a Logan County, WV motel. (This film has not yet been rated by the Friends of Coal.)

And the number 1 prediction for 2008: David Allen will overcome his lifelong struggle with dyslexia and win the Pultizer Priez