Dear Pres. Bush….

I was not going to post this but decided maybe I should. It is a letter to Former Pres. George W Bush.

Dear Pres. Bush,

I’ve put off writing this letter for two years but two events this week have made me see that I truly need share my words.  One was walking into the middle of an anti-war protest; the other was receiving a beautiful gift that honored my Fallen son.

Thank you. Thank you for being a strong Commander and Chief of this nation.  My son, Spc Micheal Phillips served under you and respected you a great deal.  On 24 Feb 08 he was killed in the line of duty in Iraq. I will not go into the details as they are not necessary nor what I want to share with you. You see I choose to celebrate my son’s life and the man he was and the gifts (his brothers in arms being the most precious of those gifts)  he left behind for me. I honor him not by mourning but by taking care of his brothers in arms still serving, their families and those who come home, especially our wounded.  I have seen you do just that and when I hear the stories of your visits to our wounded and their families I feel you are honoring my son too. Again Thank You.

At 17 years of age my son knew why we had gone to fight this war on terror. He loved studying history and was well educated in it. He saw through his studies how the attacks of terror had grown more and more bold over many year while far too many appeased or ignored them.  He saw the abuse of the people of Iraq and was infuriated by it. You see my son hated bullies more than anything and he saw the terrorist as the ultimate bullies.

Earlier this week when I walked into the middle of a war protest, I was not prepared to face, I realized how much you have faced over the years.  It strikes me that as emotional as seeing it was for me you too had to have had a similar reaction to the hateful angry words spewed unfairly at you.   In that moment I realized I needed to thank you and assure you that as a military parent I understand why you made the choices you did as President and I still support those choices.

Someday I would like to shake your hand and thank you personally.  I would also like to share with you a little about my son and who he was. I would like to tell you about his brothers in arms and how 2 years after my son’s death they still call Momma Ang and share their love and lives with me.   I lost one son and gained a company of sons to help fill the hole in my life.  As much as I miss my son and hurt for him I am that proud of him and the job he did. And I am proud to say he served under a Commander and Chief who was as strong as he was and who understood the American values and the Humanity of having to take on this fight.

This was not your war. This was not America’s war.. this was and is Humanity’s war.  Hopefully more people will understand that soon.  I fear for us all if they do not.

Respectfully,

Angelia Phillips
Gold Star Mom of
SPC Micheal “Pokey” Phillips
KIA 24 Feb. 2008
Shulla, Iraq
http://knottiesniche.com/