Last one standing....last one dead.

He is 22. She is 24. Her name is Lauren. She's a Facebook friend of mine. She's in Afghanistan, in the United States Army...no one seems to be able to explain why she's there. Something about Freedom. Karzai, the President there, isn't happy with us...he wants us to stop bombing them. The bombing is killing civilians there. We have robot planes called drones, too. Like science fiction...Buck Rogers. For her it's real, though. It's hot and bad things happen. Unhealthy work. His name is Albert. He's there too. The war there is almost over...his friend was just killed though. An IED blew his friend's face half off. The war's almost over, thank God. Lauren and Albert have families here in the States. Their fathers don't know each other. The same thought, though, keeps them both awake at night. The troops, our troops, are coming home soon...some sometime soon. There are no more goals to achieve...just to stay alive. Both dads can't stop thinking...Lauren and Albert...will be the last one to die. The last one to never come home. The last one old veterans call the REAL heroes of war. Can you imagine someone you loved being the last. Or even being the first. God save you Lauren and Albert. Or maybe we should save them.

I need a friggin God!

Voltaire said, "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." Politically incorrect it may be. But a profound truth when we see the lastest news. As of June 7th of this year, the war in Afghanistan became the longest war in our nation's history. I need a God just so I can say, "For Christ's sake...stop!" At home, we're diddling with the economy and politics like children fighting over a popsicle. Republican Debate audiences cheer the death of the uninsured and shout down our gay soldiers. This war...it's like during the Holocaust...when neighbor said to neighbor, "Aw, come on...that can't be happening." We need a friggin God to say a prayer to, light a candle for, mention in passing...when these bodies come home every day.... I believe Stephen Hawking when he says we need no God to explain the Universe. But I need one today.