Fathers and sons and war, another chapter in an age-old story
Sgt. Chris Head holds his 11-month-old son Wyatt after a send-off ceremony Tuesday afternoon at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville. Head's unit, the 802nd Ordnance Company of the U.S. Army Reserve, is being deployed today to Afghanistan. AJC photo by Hyosub Shin
I was struck by this photo on the front page of the AJC’s Metro section today and thought I’d post it here, just as a reminder. There’s an awful lot happening in that photo.
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337 comments Add your comment
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:01 pm
Great photo. Put politics aside for just a moment.
Brad Steel
November 18th, 2009
12:02 pm
A baby in camo. Another casualty. Very sad.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 18th, 2009
12:03 pm
What’s his mission?
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:07 pm
Brad Steel
November 18th, 2009
12:02 pm
Good grief, dude, get over yourself. I suppose you’d like to intervene and tell this guy how to dress and raise his son, right? Classic liberal.
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:09 pm
Where is Normal when you need him?
MR. PRESIDENT, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:09 pm
I Report
You Whine 
mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 18th, 2009
12:03 pm
Point well taken. While we’re still waiting on a decision about troop staffing, it would be nice to have a clearly defined mission and objective.
Boogers for the Children Fund
November 18th, 2009
12:10 pm
If the kenyan had fullfilled his promises and brought home the troops then this photo wouldnt exist.
@@
November 18th, 2009
12:11 pm
I see pride, curiosity and courage, jay. What father doesn’t look at their son and hope they are a chip off the old block? Someone who will carry on his legacy?
Wonderful photo…wonderful sentiment.
GOP is Gone
November 18th, 2009
12:12 pm
I was that child 4 times when my Major Dad left for either overseas deployment or war. It is a feeling of emptiness and longing with a large dose of fear thrown in. Being a Marine, he also had a arduous duty of being a Casualty Officer prior to his last Vietnam Tour in 1967, so I knew full well there was a good chance of never seeing him again. The picture is moving to say the least. For anyone who might be interested I wanted to share a website, http://www.anysoldier.com . You can go on it and request the addresses of a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. They post on the site to let you know what they may need, be it warmer socks or just a letter from home. I just wish I had known about it sooner. You may never get a response but I hope the packages are a help and get where I sent them. I tend to choose Marines, but I am partial to them.
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:12 pm
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:09 pm
The sad thing is that Private Obama declared Afghanistan to be the right war. If it’s the right war, then it should be staffed and funded accordingly. State the mission and objective. It seems as though the current administration is unwilling or incapable of doing so. If they continue to delay, then I believe the majority of Americans, including myself, will echo your plea.
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:13 pm
GOP is Gone
November 18th, 2009
12:12 pm
Thanks for the link. We should all save it.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 18th, 2009
12:14 pm
The queens of government regulation, high taxes and idiotic ideas takes another gigantic financial hit, go figure-
KKKalifornia budget shortfall to top $21 billion
Nasty Pelosi, indeed.
Boogers for the Children Fund
November 18th, 2009
12:19 pm
Dont forget Ms Maxine “Mean & NASTY” Waters.
Disgusted
November 18th, 2009
12:20 pm
Gee, for a minute there I thought I was looking at a picture of a younger Dick Cheney. Then I remembered. Nah. Six deferments.
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:20 pm
Well JC,if the prez wont bring them,the least he could do is lift the ROE’s. Dang!
@@
November 18th, 2009
12:22 pm
For Paul if he should show up here.
I left you a post downstairs. You know, all too well, that I’ve always read your posts with a suspicious eye.
Nothing personal, mind you. It’s my nature in all things political.
GOP is Gone
November 18th, 2009
12:24 pm
Your welcome Jimmy. I have become an addict to it. I no longer get the stuff mailed and I out looking for more stuff. The hardest part is choosing the Soldier. I am trying to recruit knitters to make military friendly colored beanies right now. Anybody knit?
Normal
November 18th, 2009
12:25 pm
Scooter @ 12:09, Thank you! I couldn’t have said it better, but it’s worth repeating…
MR. PRESIDENT, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
stands for decibels
November 18th, 2009
12:29 pm
Great photo. Put politics aside for just a moment.
Agreed.
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:29 pm
You’re welcome Normal!
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:30 pm
stands for decibels
November 18th, 2009
12:29 pm
I knew we could agree on something.
Quick! Peanut butter sandwiches. With or without jelly?
Normal
November 18th, 2009
12:31 pm
JC, did you hear the interview on NPR about the Striker Vechicle in Afghanistan. I Iraq it worked as advertised mainly because the roads are paved there. In Afghanistan, it has become a sitting duck because it gets stuck too often.
We are using equiptment not made for that theater. Why? Simple really, because we have nothing else. If we can’t equip them, they don’t belong there. By the way, what we pay for a Striker is criminal concidering it’s only an urban vechicle.
Bring our troops home now!
stands for decibels
November 18th, 2009
12:31 pm
Peanut butter sandwiches. With or without jelly?
Jelly, of course. Welch’s Grape or some reasonable facsimile.
md
November 18th, 2009
12:33 pm
I’ve always maintained that our military is backwards. We need to be sending the over 50 crowd and leaving the boys at home to at least have a chance to experience life. I understand the physical constraints, but at least the older ones had a good 30+ years to enjoy themselves.
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:34 pm
stands for decibels
November 18th, 2009
12:31 pm
Ditto the grape.
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:36 pm
Normal
November 18th, 2009
12:31 pm
No surprise there. I remember when the troops were having to rig their vehicles in Iraq to blunt the ieds. Sad but true. Most of our weaponry was made to support yet another European style theater.
stands for decibels
November 18th, 2009
12:36 pm
Only semi related, and not especially partisan…
but if you think we can just antiseptically take care of our problems in that region with unmanned drones and you haven’t yet read this New Yorker piece, you really should.
(Being a New Yorker article, it does go on for approximately forever, but it is worth the effort.)
Normal
November 18th, 2009
12:36 pm
GOP, I’m with JC. Great site and a hellava lot more meaningful than a magnetic “Support The Troops” ribbon, isn’t it?
Normal
November 18th, 2009
12:39 pm
md
November 18th, 2009
12:33 pm
md, I agree.
I know more tricks as an old dog than a young pup has had time to learn…guile and cunning overcomes youth and strength every time…
Paul
November 18th, 2009
12:40 pm
Death is a risk when wearing that uniform.
I’d imagine many of them are thinking “If it happens, may it be for something critical, for which there was no other option.”
I’m not convinced.
@@
You? Suspicious? Of little ole me?
ISH
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:40 pm
md
November 18th, 2009
12:33 pm
Alot of us over 50 crowd have beentheredonethat dude. No thanks!
Paul
November 18th, 2009
12:41 pm
md
The over-50 crowd? Just who do you think did WWII, Korea, Vietnam and all those little police actions?
Nothing Is Free
November 18th, 2009
12:43 pm
Normal
**a hellava lot more meaningful than a magnetic “Support The Troops” ribbon, isn’t it?**
I like to think that people who put those ribbons on their vehicle are also doing other things to support the troops. That seems pretty logical.
md
November 18th, 2009
12:45 pm
scooter,
Had it been reversed, you wouldn’t have beentheredonethat yet.
Nothing Is Free
November 18th, 2009
12:45 pm
Paul
better crank up those numbers. I’m over fifty and I was born during the Korean War. Time passes fast. I was saved from going to nam when Nixon ended the war, so even the Viet Nam vets are edging into their 60s.
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:46 pm
Hey Normal, I thought that was “oldage and treachery”!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
November 18th, 2009
12:47 pm
We need to be sending the over 50 crowd and leaving the boys at home to at least have a chance to experience life.
Well, this is the silliest idea I ever seen. If you send the over 50 crowd you wouldn’t have nobody in Congress to declare war. Right now it’s alot easier to declare war because they know they don’t have to fight it. They can just send somebody else’s kid. Like I said, just silly.
Have a good p.m. everybody.
Normal
November 18th, 2009
12:47 pm
SFD, I still stand by the Predator. The terrorists are themselves terrified by them. If mistakes are made sometimes, that is the fog of war. But it keeps them looking up scared. That is a good thing.
Keeping our troops out of harms way is a better thing.
Paul
November 18th, 2009
12:48 pm
NIF
And they’re all over 50!
Y’know, if we’re gonna send someone into a situation where they can die or get maimed, it seems to me we owe it to them to be able to say, in one or two sentenced, “this is why.”
I’m still waiting for those one or two sentences.
getalife
November 18th, 2009
12:50 pm
md,
NO.
Looks like Obama convinced Asia to buy more debt and will send more troops soon. Hillary is there but he is worried about the debt and double dip recession.
Normal
November 18th, 2009
12:50 pm
NIF,
“I like to think that people who put those ribbons on their vehicle are also doing other things to support the troops. That seems pretty logical.”
If you took a poll, I would be willing to bet that 75% or more who display that ribbon on their cars have done nothing but lip service for the troops.
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:50 pm
md,
You have a point there. I think. ????
Brad Steel
November 18th, 2009
12:51 pm
“Classic liberal”
There’s your sign. (nod to G)
jconservative
November 18th, 2009
12:51 pm
Nothing Is Free
“I like to think that people who put those ribbons on their vehicle are also doing other things to support the troops. That seems pretty logical.”
I would like to believe the same thing, but my experience is that once they put that ribbon on their car they figure they have done their share.
Thousands put the ribbon on the car, dozens show up to support the troops in person, dozens contribute to military support causes.
stands for decibels
November 18th, 2009
12:53 pm
The terrorists are themselves terrified by them. If mistakes are made sometimes, that is the fog of war. But it keeps them looking up scared. That is a good thing.
Oh, don’t get me wrong–I didn’t cite that article to say that we should not use these drone aircraft; obviously it can do the job with ruthless efficiency. But it’s not antiseptic; the people who are on the piloting end of this process are not unaffected (it’s starting to look like they actually have MORE stress to deal with than actual bomber pilots, from anecdotal evidence I’ve seen/heard) and we are in uncharted territory as to how effective this will be as part of an overall effort that is supposed to be winning hearts and minds.
Nothing Is Free
November 18th, 2009
12:54 pm
Paul
The problem with that idea is that all military has taken advantage of the indestructibility of youth. Old guys will look at the commander and say: What? You run across that field and let them shoot at you. I’m comfortable right hear behind this nice, big rock. Watch how many I can shoot from right here.
I learned how people are killed in battle while we were working on a very tall bridge. We had to cross a 600 foot drop on an old extension ladder that was tied to the scaffolding. None of us wanted to do it until the little short guy said: I’ll do it. We had to do it after the short guy said that he would.
Mrs. Godzilla
November 18th, 2009
12:55 pm
A sadly beautiful photo…..I wish Sgt Head and his comrades the very best and thank them for their service.
That said…
Mr. President bring our troops home!
and
I don’t approve of “cammo” on children. It’s always been on my list of
inappropriate clothing for my children. Each to their own tho….
Scooter
November 18th, 2009
12:56 pm
More troops with there hands tied behind thier backs wont do Jack Squat!
Jimmy Carter
November 18th, 2009
12:56 pm
Brad Steel
November 18th, 2009
12:51 pm
Hahahaha! Just can’t think for yourself, can you? Using the tired old ’sign’ drivel used by Mrs. G. As I said earlier, classic liberal.
Nothing Is Free
November 18th, 2009
12:57 pm
jconservative
I don’t know of anyone who has those ribbons that doesn’t actually have a family member in action. That’s a pretty big sacrifice.