Damn

I have recently learned that my little home town in Northern Minnesota has lost not one, but two young men to the lunacy in Iraq. Two boys, no older than my brothers, have lost their lives, two families have lost their sons and two brightly glowing futures have lost their potential.

Pfc. Moises Langhorst
Moises Langhorst, 19, died Monday while on duty on Iraq. The circumstances were unclear. Langhorst graduated in 2003 from Moose Lake High School, where he played several sports and participated in theater. The Defense Department did not confirm Langhorst's death. Last month, the body of Marine Pfc. Matthew G. Milczark, 18, of Kettle River, was found at a chapel in Kuwait. He death was caused by a non-combat shooting, authorities have said. Milczark graduated from Moose Lake High School with Langhorst. ``They were good buddies and had planned to go into the military together, and hoped to serve together in the same unit, even,'' Flags around the small town about 40 miles southwest of Duluth were at half-staff Wednesday. Counselors were at the high school. Although it was not clear where Langhorst died, the military announced Wednesday that two Marines had been killed in recent fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, to uproot Sunni Muslim insurgents there. A total 10 Marines are known to have been wounded since the Marine siege of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, began early Monday, when one Marine was killed. The Marines have not given a full casualty count, nor have they named those killed. ~Associated Press

Pfc. Matthew Milczark
Homecoming king, football player, a leader and a good kid. That's how Pfc. Matthew G. Milczark, 18, from tiny Kettle River, Minn., was remembered yesterday after the Camp Pendleton Marine reportedly died from a noncombat gunshot wound early Monday in Kuwait. Milczark deployed to the Middle East three weeks ago with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division. The infantryman was found in a chapel with a gunshot wound to the head. "When I talked to him 10 days ago, he was upbeat," said Derek Wood, Milczark's stepbrother. "He said he just wanted to go to Iraq and help out and come back home." Milczark is the first San Diego County-based Marine to die in the Middle East since thousands from Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station began massing in Kuwait. In April, the Marines will replace the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in patrolling a section of Iraq. Milczark's family said there was never a question that the young man voted Moose Lake High School's 2003 homecoming king would follow his grandfather and three uncles into the military. "He had a very large family and he was much loved by all of us," Wood said. "I miss him. We all miss him." The death is under investigation. ~Associated Press

To the Milczark and Langhorst families: I am so very sorry.

To all the politicians out there: Fuck you and your damned war.

To everyone: If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Which are you?