The Soul of This Country Is Being Eaten Away

By Tia Steele
t r u t h o u t | Statement

Tuesday 28 February 2006

Tia Steele provides her testimony to House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs.

Lance Corporal David Michael Branning was killed in action in Fallujah, Iraq, on November 12, 2004. He was killed when he and his buddy, Lance Corporal Brian Medina, were ordered to kick in the door of a private home in that city. I imagine that in the last minutes of their lives, they must have known that there might be people in that dwelling - people who were defending their home. These defenders fired on David and Brian. David was shot in the throat and the bullet exited his head; he died virtually instantly. Brian bled to death within minutes. David was 21 years old; Brian was 20.

David was my stepson; he lost his mother to breast cancer when he was 11. David's father has lost his only son and David's sister has lost her only sibling; I have lost one of the most important people I have ever loved. Our lives are changed forever; nothing will ever be the same. At some point after receiving the word of his death, in the haze of grief, I remembered the day his father and I said goodbye to David as he left for boot camp. David's Marine recruiter, with a big smile on his face, stuck his hand out to shake mine, and said, "You'll never have to worry about him again."

The world would be a much better place if everyone had a chance to be loved by someone like David, and to love him back. David was bright, inquisitive, determined, and impulsive at times - he was a sketch artist and a sculptor. He read philosophy books; he carried "War and Peace" with him in Iraq. He didn't enjoy school and he was a dedicated, dependable employee. He was based in Hawaii and had learned to surf, sky dive, and rock climb. He loved working out, and he was consistently challenging himself. He was the one in the family who made everyone else laugh.

I am a member of Gold Star Families Speak Out (GSFSO), an organization of family members of United States military killed in this war. We are a chapter within Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), a 3,000-member organization of military families opposed to the occupation of Iraq. Every single person involved in these groups has a compelling and powerful story to tell, and we are there to support each other. Speaking out against this immoral invasion and uniting with other GSFSO and MFSO members has been a blessing for me. I am grateful that we are available to each other and continuing to give voice to the majority of Americans who want the United States out of Iraq.

Through the support of these organizations, I have learned that our family is, in a peculiar way, one of the "lucky" families. We are fortunate in two ways: (1) We were able to view David's body in the funeral home when he came back to the States. We were able to stroke his hair, and touch him, and hug him, and talk to him, and take photographs of him; his sister and I were able to take clippings of his hair to keep with our treasures of him. (2) We are "lucky" because we learned from first hand accounts just what happened to David. Ten days after the event, we heard a National Public Radio report from the field; the journalist mentioned David and Brian by name and described what happened to them. Then, as soon as they could after leaving the battlefield, David's buddies phoned us and told us everything we wanted to know about the incident in which he was killed. They were with him when he died. They know exactly where he died and how he died.

I say we were "lucky" because I know how other families have fared. I have met too many families who weren't as fortunate because (1) they were not allowed to view their loved one's body, or its remaining parts, if there were any, and (2) they cannot get complete and truthful answers about how their loved one died. Some of these families have communicated repeatedly with the military, seeking answers to their questions. Some have received revised versions of their loved one's death, weeks and months after the fact. In one particular instance, a family was told that their son committed suicide in Iraq - something they found impossible to believe. Almost two years later, they were notified that in fact he had not committed suicide, but was killed by a fellow soldier. The horror of such experiences is exceeded only by the singular experience of losing a loved one in a war based on lies and perpetuated by greed.

I ask you to imagine this: think of the person you love most in this world. Imagine that person is taken away from you forever, destroyed because of lies and betrayal. Imagine that they had their whole life ahead of them - and that that life is now gone forever. David knew I opposed this war from the start - he said go for it, and told me to light a candle for him. David was too young to comprehend his own mortality - that is why young people die in wars, thanks to old people who send them there.

My mission since David's death is to do all that I can to stop the madness that is sending more innocents to their unnecessary deaths. We have no acceptable reasons for staying the course in Iraq. We must withdraw immediately. We owe it to our military people, to the people of Iraq and the United States, and to our severely damaged reputation in the world.

Please do everything in your power to stop this insanity and bring the troops home now. The soul of this country is being eaten away - do the honorable thing, and stop the unnecessary slaughter and deception.

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Editor's Note: The House Appropriations Subcommittee for Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs heard testimony Tuesday from Iraq War Veterans and family members. Over the next couple of days we will provide you with more of the testimony. - smg/TO