stephanie
03-24-2009, 12:51 AM
wow, read the comments..
Susie O'Brien
March 24, 2009 12:00am
LOOK into the eyes of these gorgeous, proud dads. There's Mathew, holding his son Alex about five weeks ago. He's got that look new dads share holding their newborns for the first time.
It's a mixture of pride, fear and total amazement that he's actually being trusted to hold such a precious being.
And there's Brett on his wedding day, with his beautiful bride Bree, and his kids, Taleah and Jacob. Like any family, they're skylarking around to quell the nerves of the big day, and just enjoying the moment together.
I'm glad these kids have the beautiful photos, because right now all they have left of their dads are memories.
You see, Mathew is Corporal Mathew Hopkins, and Brett is Sergeant Brett Till, who recently both became the ninth and 10th Australian casualties in the bloody war in the dusty deserts of Afghanistan.
Of course, the Department of Defence assures us that their lives were not lost in vain, and that they will be remembered forever for their sacrifice. But this is just hollow rhetoric.
Of course their lives were lost in vain. What difference can the lives of two soldiers make in such a bloody, messy, unwinnable war?
Mathew - who was just 21 - has left behind that saddest of things - a bride without a husband and a child without a dad.
And Brett has left behind not only Bree, Taleah and Jacob, but their unborn child, who will never even meet his or her father.
But it's Mathew's story that's affected me most - maybe because I'm just weeks off giving birth myself.
He left Afghanistan just five weeks ago to marry Victoria and see Alex being born. And all this father and son got together was four precious, fleeting days.
Alex has been robbed of one of the most precious gifts a child can have - a loving, doting dad.
He will never get to play with him, celebrate birthdays, or kick a footy around the back yard.
And he will never have the chance to get to know him, or even have some memories of his own to cherish.
A few pictures are all he will have to hold on to. So how do we make sense of these deaths?
The Department of Defence is keen to point out Brett Till saved the lives of his mates, and Mathew Hopkins was serving his nation.
But I think there is something unseemly about the department trying to convince a grieving family that the loss of their dear son or husband or father is in any way honorable, or justified.
read the rest and COMMENTS.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25231133-5000117,00.html
Susie O'Brien
March 24, 2009 12:00am
LOOK into the eyes of these gorgeous, proud dads. There's Mathew, holding his son Alex about five weeks ago. He's got that look new dads share holding their newborns for the first time.
It's a mixture of pride, fear and total amazement that he's actually being trusted to hold such a precious being.
And there's Brett on his wedding day, with his beautiful bride Bree, and his kids, Taleah and Jacob. Like any family, they're skylarking around to quell the nerves of the big day, and just enjoying the moment together.
I'm glad these kids have the beautiful photos, because right now all they have left of their dads are memories.
You see, Mathew is Corporal Mathew Hopkins, and Brett is Sergeant Brett Till, who recently both became the ninth and 10th Australian casualties in the bloody war in the dusty deserts of Afghanistan.
Of course, the Department of Defence assures us that their lives were not lost in vain, and that they will be remembered forever for their sacrifice. But this is just hollow rhetoric.
Of course their lives were lost in vain. What difference can the lives of two soldiers make in such a bloody, messy, unwinnable war?
Mathew - who was just 21 - has left behind that saddest of things - a bride without a husband and a child without a dad.
And Brett has left behind not only Bree, Taleah and Jacob, but their unborn child, who will never even meet his or her father.
But it's Mathew's story that's affected me most - maybe because I'm just weeks off giving birth myself.
He left Afghanistan just five weeks ago to marry Victoria and see Alex being born. And all this father and son got together was four precious, fleeting days.
Alex has been robbed of one of the most precious gifts a child can have - a loving, doting dad.
He will never get to play with him, celebrate birthdays, or kick a footy around the back yard.
And he will never have the chance to get to know him, or even have some memories of his own to cherish.
A few pictures are all he will have to hold on to. So how do we make sense of these deaths?
The Department of Defence is keen to point out Brett Till saved the lives of his mates, and Mathew Hopkins was serving his nation.
But I think there is something unseemly about the department trying to convince a grieving family that the loss of their dear son or husband or father is in any way honorable, or justified.
read the rest and COMMENTS.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25231133-5000117,00.html