To the Editor:
I am a junior at RPI and I served in the military before beginning my education. I served in the infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia. Right now, people I may have served with are fighting for the foundations of freedom and defending the liberties of the US Constitution and all the responsibilities that pertain to it. I have been watching how Saddam Hussein’s regime is treating American soldiers who have been captured, and it is ripping my guts out. According to the Geneva Convention, all that captured soldiers have to say is name, rank, and serial number; what Iraq is doing is a direct violation of those articles. But despite this, we fight on and I am here to say that this will not weaken the U.S. soldiers’ resolve, it will only strengthen it. Remember what happened at the Alamo when we encountered the Mexican forces of Santa Anna. The one thing that I always remembered the most is, even if people don’t support the president’s view, it made me stronger in my weak times to know that someone was rooting for my fellow soldiers and I. So it is OK to protest the war, but at the same time please let it be known that you support the troops because I know from experience that your support gives us strength at the times when we feel weakest. After all, we are willing to die for your ‘free’ right to protest; that is what makes our country great. So, feel free to exercise your rights as Americans, but please don’t forget who helps to give you that right. Do something to show that you support the troops because it is times like these when we need you most.
EJ Jordan
MGMT ’04
