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| Gail Koch is a junior journalism major and writes 'And Another Thing' for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. |
Before Wednesday, war was a three-letter word that meant little to me.
Because of my age, I remember little about the first Gulf War and I blame negligence for my failure to learn more about the post-Sept. 11 war in Afghanistan.
Yet now, with the U.S. attack in Baghdad last week, war has been given a new meaning.
And it's all because I know a soldier who's on the front lines.
He's a member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and he happens to be the husband of my best friend.
Now, as he fights for his country in a foreign land thousands of miles away, his wife sits at home and waits for him.
And as she thinks of him, her thoughts turn to the child she is expecting -- a baby girl due this June.
She has sent him a copy of their daughter's sonogram, a scrap of paper he carries with him in the pocket of his dusty uniform.
Like some many of the troop members over there, he is a soldier who is young and afraid. Afraid for his life, afraid for his buddies' lives and afraid for the lives he may be forced to take in combat.
In the last few days, I have been thinking of him often. My heart pounds as I hear news of those in his force that have been killed or wounded, fearing one of them could be him.
I have talked with my girlfriend since the war began and am proud of how well she is holding up.
At the same time, I remain frustrated by the injustice of it all.
How unfair it is that one day this young man can go from planning a life with the woman he loves to fighting for it in a desert worlds away from home.
How unfair that I will be the one who knows before he does whether his newborn daughter has his eyes and nose or the freckles of her mother -- and how unfair it is that I have gone from toasting a couple on their wedding day to praying for their future in the troubled months ahead.
Throughout all of this, I know I am lucky. I am not the one whose boyfriend, father or brother is serving overseas, and for those who know this to be true, my heart goes out to you.
You are the ones who face sleepless nights, worrying about the safe return of your loved ones.
But in the months ahead, I will be there with you.
For no matter how little or well I may know someone fighting in Iraq, I have come to care deeply about this war.
And, in particular, a certain Marine in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
Paul, wherever you may be, this message goes out to you.
I hope to see you home again soon.
Write to Gail at glkoch@bsu.edu
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