Swampscott Loses a Soldier to Iraq

I'll never forgive President Bush. 130,000 Iraqis are dead because of his lies and deceit. More than 2,500 Americans - and counting - are dying. However, these are all foreign numbers - until one of your own dies.

Well, one of Swampscott's own died: Jared Raymond, age 20. He joined the army because of 9/11. He joined the army because he felt it was his Patriotic duty. I hate to make political statements when someone died, but if now isn't the time, I just don't know when it is. The President abused this poor boy's patriotism by exploiting 9/11 and then invaded a country that had nothing to do with it. The country Bush invaded, where this poor guy was killed, wasn't a threat to America or even anyone in the Middle East. Saddam Hussien was contained.

We decided to create a new order of things in the Middle East - and now Swampscott lost one of its youngest in a waste of a war. It pales in comparison to Iraq's loss - 130,000 people - but he's one of a mountain of dead bodies coming home to America. His death has hit home and made me more resolute than ever in getting out of Iraq.

One life - something that should always be cherished - is over. What would Jared Raymond have become? What was his potential in life? What would have been his achievements? Who would he have loved? What would his children have been like - and what would they have done? We'll never know now because he's dead. His body is cold and rotting. It's unfair, it's terrible and it should never have happened. How many more Jared Raymonds are there going to be before everyone wakes up and we finally bring our troops home?