Dear Sgt Grit:
The "Horns of Hormuz" are in the news again. It appears that the Iranian government are once again threatening to close this critical waterway to shipping. However, also according to the latest news reports, there are two carrier strike groups currently assigned to patrol the Persian Gulf. One of their missions, and the Unites States Navy's mission, is to keep the sea lanes open in defense of freedom of the seas. Another of their tasks is to support ground operations in the southwest Asia theater of operations. That means he'll be supporting the Marines.
This will be my son's second deployment to SWA aboard ship. Some of his friends from high school and college have already served or are currently serving tours in-country; you can be sure that many of the crew also have friends and relatives on the ground in Afghanistan. They're all there to support each other. It seems to me that we have as fine a fighting force as can be assembled out there protecting the rights and freedoms of the Afghan people. It is an honor to know more than a few of them.
Sometimes news editorials make us wonder what business our sons and daughters have more than six time zones away, performing tasks that seem to have little or nothing to do with the average American's personal liberties. This may be so, but it seems to me that preventing terrorism and oppressive political ideologies from denying such things as universal suffrage and education for women and minorities is a worthwhile endeavor.
It's probably true that people in the Persian Gulf region have known little peace or freedom lately, but the Code of Hammurabi from antiquity, and the story of Esther from the Bible, illustrate that regardless of recent History, the people there have been trying to get it right for thousands of years. Just maybe, with our help, they can get it right this time. I believe our Marines have what it takes to help make it happen.
K. Brown
"Ah! The good old time–the good old time. Youth and the sea. Glamour and the sea! The good, strong sea, the salt, bitter sea, that could whisper to you and roar at you and knock your breath
out of you." –Joseph Conrad, "Youth".