Staff Sergeant Tom Duke

About me:

.... .... .... .... .. I have served the United States Army for thirty years. My MOS is 11B30(Infantry). Fifteen of those years were active duty and the other fifteen years with the California Army National Guard. I have been station oversea at: Germany (1974-75), Korea (1984-85 & 1989-1991), Panama (1983 & 1993/both 1 month Jungle warfare training ) Sinai, Egypt MFO Peacekeeping mission(1989/6 months), and Ukraine (2000-2 1/2 weeks). I have the honor of serving with 2nd Infantry Div, 7th Infantry Div, 9th Infantry Div, 40th Mech Div,and the 101st Air Assault Div. Sorry for not updating my blogs but so many good and tragic events have happen in the last five months that I am not sure where to begin. I will start with my Son SPC John Duke. On Memorial Day weekend my Son came back to the good old USA from Iraq. Our family flew to Fort Benning, Georgia for his arrival and it was a great occasion for us for my Son has come home in one piece. His fifteen months tour was a hardship that only a few knows what it is like when you go to War. Not only my Son suffered through hardships but also my wife who knows what it is like to loose a love one during a time of war. At times I caught my wife crying when she looks at recent pictures of our Son worrying if he is going to be wounded or killed. At times I had to censor pictures so my wife only saw good things happening in Iraq. I did not show her pictures where my Son was hit by IEDs or was in combat for that would have made her worried and cried more. Only when our Son came home I then showed her the pictures. Yes I too worried almost everyday about my Son being wounded or killed. For we soldiers have picked one of the most dangerous professions and that is a Combat MOS (Military Occupation Specialty). We are the ones who will go into harms way and maybe not come back! So I was prepare to expect the worst if something happen to my Son and Thank God it did not happen! And now for some sad news for on 4th of July my Niece Julie drown in a river while riding a rubber raft. What makes this tragic is this drowning accident was preventable and should not happen! She went on a rubber raft with a friend and not wearing any life preserver or other safety gear. Once they got caught in the current they crash into some rock outcropping where a whirlpool made then fell in the water. My Niece friend was rescue but my Niece disappeared in the water and never came up. It would be over two and half months before our family found her body (13th September). My youngest Brother-in-Law found her after all the attempts by Search and Rescue failed to do. And to compound more bad news another tragic preventable event happen. One month ago (15 August 08) our 1st Baptist Minister lost his oldest Son in an auto accident. Preacher Son was riding in a car that was part of a Christian youth camp and was hit by another car. How sad that my Niece and our Preacher Son were killed by an accident that was preventable. We Soldiers knew that there is a chance that we may be wounded or even killed for that is the nature of War and the Profession we took. But to see two young lives cut down by accidents that were preventable makes it even more tragic! Boating accidents happen more often then ever when people do not wear a life vest, any other safety gear and when drinking is involved. As for auto accidents roughly 30 to 50,000 people in the United States died in tragic auto accidents! In the five years we fought in Iraq we lost over 4,200 soldiers and that is tragic. While same five years go by in the USA we lost around 200,000 citizens in tragic auto accidents! And not one peep of protest for that massive lost of lives. In a sense you are probably safer in Iraq then in USA! All I am trying to say is that a lot of accidents in the USA are preventable and should NOT HAPPEN! It is very strange that after all what my Son went through in combat he came home in one piece. While two very good people who have not gone to war should loose their lives to accidents that were PREVENTABLE! When preventable accidents are killing more people then almost any war we have been involve it is time we take notice and do something about it. For people who protest the War why have you not protest about tragic preventable accidents that have KILLED Tens of thousands of our good citizens every year! I am waiting for an answer citizens and all I hear is a faint echo of nothing and that is very, very sad…....