Dying war veteran blames Bush for woes

 

Tomas Young

This is a poignant story of a brave and eloquent Iraq war veteran whose health condition has deteriorated so much that continued living is no longer an option. He has finally decided to put an end to his suffering.

Exuding with patriotism, Tomas Young was only 22 years old when he joined the US Army after hearing the call of former President George W. Bush, who stood on the rubble of Ground Zero just after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and pledged to go after those responsible.

Since it was known, without doubt, that Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda terrorist group were behind the attacks, with Afghanistan identified as their base of operation, Young thought this is where he wanted to go and join the forces that would hunt them down.

But instead of being deployed to Afghanistan to fight al-Qaeda and its allies, he ended up in Iraq in 2004 following Saddam Hussein’s capture by coalition forces.

On the fifth day into his deployment, Young’s unit came under fire from insurgents in Baghdad. He was hit and his spine was severed. This was the start of the young soldier’s woes.

After his return to the US he campaigned from his wheelchair against the war in Iraq and in 2007 was the subject of a documentary, Body of War.

But Young was not getting any better despite the best medical attention due a war veteran.

In 2008 Young suffered a pulmonary embolism and an anoxic brain injury due to a reduced oxygen supply that impaired his speech and arm movement. A colostomy operation last year provided only temporary relief.

Young’s wife, Claudia Cuellar Tomas, said that last year his pain and discomfort increased dramatically and he grew weary of repeated hospital visits to treat infections and other ailments.

“He didn’t want to do any more procedures or surgeries. It’s not that he wants to die – he simply doesn’t want to suffer any more,” Claudia added.

Unable now to eat solid food, he is fed through a tube in his stomach. The skin on his hips is breaking down, exposing raw flesh and bone.

As agreed by the couple, however, Young will continue to take food and liquids until their first wedding anniversary on 20 April. After that they will stop talking publicly about his case and spend time together until they feel the time is right for him to end his life, which most likely is by starving himself to death since there is no suicide-assisted death permitted in Missouri.

But, what I wanted most of all to bring out of this blog is the moving letter that Young wrote to Bush and Cheney, the former US president and vice president, respectively, who were the  leaders behind the Iraqi invasion.

Please open this link: http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/the_last_letter_20130318

 

9/11s of my life

The late Capt. Angel Sievert

For as long as I live the date September 11 or 9/11 will forever be etched in my mind.

The date involves three events that had devastating effects on lives – mine, the nation and the world.

The first event happened on September 11, 1965, when, while studying in Manila and staying in my relative’s house, I was awakened by my aunt very early in the morning informing me that my brother, Angel, a pilot of the defunct Fairways Airline was missing. She showed me the national papers and I saw my brother’s name. I was stunned. Immediately I felt goose bumps.

I dressed up and, together with my cousin, went to the airport. The office was already filled  with people – all relatives of the passengers of the missing plane.

Apparently the plane took off from Cebu for the half an hour flight to Bacolod City, but never reached its destination.

While search was conducted, I had to fly back to Cebu to be with the rest of my family – anxiously waiting. I kept on thinking about my brother’s own family – a wife and three kids, the youngest who was only a month old.

It seemed like an endless wait with our hope dimming and appearing as ominous as the weather that was not cooperating with the searchers.

Finally the wreckage was found, after nearly two weeks of searching, near the top of Mt. Kanlaon.

It devastated me as I did not only lose a caring brother, but a best friend whom I looked up to with respect and admiration. He was 28 then and I was 21.

I still remember our last conversation, sitting on the stairs of our old house in Sudlon, Colon, Cebu City, where he asked me why was I leaving for Manila when he was being based in Cebu already.

Looking back, it was fate.

The despot, Ferdinand Marcos

The second 9/11 event came into existence with the same devastating effect to the nation. This happened to be the birthday of Ferdinand Marcos, yes, the man who the nation thought would lead us to progress and prosperity when we elected him president in 1965.

Alas, the politician turned president was so drunk with power that he turned into a despot by issuing Proclamation 1081 on September 21, 1972, declaring martial law over the entire country on the pretext of overblown threats of Communist and Muslim insurgencies, as well as increasing civil disobedience. His ‘Bagong Lipunan’ or New Society based on new social and political values failed, plunging the nation into its darkest days and leaving it bereft of money, honor and dignity.

More than the date of the proclamation, it is 9/11 that made the citizenry cringe with hate because we were all made to commemorate the dictator’s birthday – the SOB! The rest is history.

Looking back, it was fate.

The third 9/11 event had the most devastating effect on humanity for it was seen by the whole world how terrorism was brought directly to the shores of the greatest nation on earth, the United States of America – the bastion of peace, equal opportunity, freedom and democracy.

The World Trade Center towers before its collapsed

That morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City and both towers collapsed within two hours. The hijackers also intentionally crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and intended to pilot the fourth hijacked jet, United Airlines Flight 93, into the US Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., however, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksvill, Pennsylvania after its passengers attempted to take control of the jet from the hijackers.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the horrible attacks, which included people of different races who were trying to make their American dream come true.

Looking back, it was fate.

How I wish there exist an armor against tragic fate.

Freedom Tower now tallest building in the US

 

One World Trade Center, also known as Freedom Tower: The symbol of America's resolve

They finally found a name for it.

They called it Freedom Tower, and what a fitting name for a skyscraper that is the One World Trade Center, standing as a symbol of resilience and strength of a nation targeted by terrorist.

The One World Trade Center built in Lower Manhattan, NY, replaces the World Trade Center twin towers destroyed by terrorists in 2001.

It has risen from the hallowed Ground Zero, not only as a reminder of what happened on 9/11, but a defiant symbol of power against those wanting to undermine the resolve of a nation that stands for freedom and democracy.

The timing of its completion can only be described by some as ‘poetic justice.’ Who would ever imagine that it will fall closely to the first anniversary of Osama Bin Laden’s death?

The Freedom Tower, which started construction in April 2006, has 104 floors and with a 408-ft (124-m) cable-stayed spire added on top of the roof, the total structure now reaches the symbolic height of  1,776ft (541m), thus, surpassing the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) in Chicago, and making it the tallest building in the US.

In the shadow of the new tower is the 9/11 memorial, made up of two reflecting pools in the footprints of where the twin towers used to stand.

Seoul skyscrapers evoke memories of 9/11

Ill-conceived skyscrapers design according to relatives of 9/11 victims

The Dutch architectural company MVRDV, which has been commissioned by the Seoul, South Korea government to design two skyscrapers to be built at the entrance of the capital’s redeveloped Yongsan business district by 2016, has been the receiving end of criticism and complaints from 9/11 families for their apparent ill-conceived design.

According to the relatives of the victims of the 2001 terror attack the design seems to conjure dramatic images of clouds of smoke and debris billowing from the twin towers after they were hit by hijacked planes.

The thick billowing smoke coming from where the planes were intentionally crashed appear in the design now to be somehow connecting the two buildings that are mushrooming with lounges, restaurants, swimming pools and other amenities.

“It looks just like the towers imploding. I think they’re trying to sensationalize it. It’s a cheap way to get publicity,” said Jim Riches, a retired deputy fire chief whose son was killed on 9/11.

While the architectural firm apologized and expressed their regrets deeply for seemingly evoking the painful tragedy, the South Korean developer, however, said that the design won’t be altered.

“Allegations that it (the design) was inspired by the 9/11 attacks are groundless,” said White Paik, a spokesman for the Yongsan Development Corporation.

“There will be no revision or change in our project,” he said, adding that construction would begin in January 2013 as scheduled.