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Wednesday, Oct 3.
2007
One Father to Another
by
Bill Adams,
father of Brent Adams
Mr. President:
 I do not write
this letter to you as an American Citizen to the President of our
country. I write this letter to you simply as one father to another.
A father who is looking for the truth of what happened on 12/1/05 when
my son, Brent A Adams a National Guardsman for 17 years with the
2/28th Combat Brigade based in Washington, PA, was killed in action.
On December 1, 2005
at approximately 6:30 PM that dreaded knock on the door came from two
National Guardsmen who informed us of our son’s death in Ramadi,
Iraq. We were told he was killed as he drove his Bradley vehicle over
an IED in Ramadi. We were struck by grief so deep and wide that it
can only be understood by someone who has experienced it for
themselves. So when my wife and I watched the news the following
day, we drawn to the report of action in Ramadi showing a video
shot by the insurgents on the streets of the city on 12/1/05. It
showed them having free reign, firing an RPG, as well other hand held
weapons. We sat in shock as we watched and thought that possibly this
was some of the action that Brent was killed in. But, we were totally
confused when immediately after viewing the video, Major General Rich
Lynch appeared and strongly disputed reports of widespread insurgent
attacks in Ramadi on Thursday. He said there were no Americans killed
in Ramadi, Iraq on Thursday, December 1st and the video we had just
seen was a propaganda video made by the insurgents. He said one
attack, involving a rocket-propelled grenade occurred Thursday and
that it caused no damage or casualities. For an instant we had a
fleeting hope that possibly he was right and our son wasn’t killed,
some sort of mistake had happened. But deep in our hearts we knew
that this wasn’t the case.
We waited in grief
for our son’s remains to come to Pittsburg, where he made his home
with his wife and now six year old son. Since it was during December,
there were weather issues, making air transport difficult, but we
finally had a date for his body to arrive and arranged for the
services to take place. Then family received notice there was a
possibility that he wouldn’t arrive “on time”. We were told we should
consider having the services using an empty casket. Obviously, we
were appalled by that statement and fortunately after some phone calls
to US representatives, his body did arrive and we had the services as
originally scheduled.
During the services,
I came in contact with three US service representatives assigned to
the family who I questioned about the contradiction between where I
was told my son was killed and what Major General Rick Lynch said on
national television. All three took my information and said they
would “get back to me” but they never did. I was too overcome with
grief to do much more than that at the time but as time passed it has
troubled me to the point that it causes me today to ask you, the
Commander in Chief of the Armed Services why this apparent
misinformation took place.
Since that time
every serviceman I spoke to verified it was Ramadi where he was
killed. Some of them showed me wounds they received that day,
December 1, 2005. Recently, through a chance meeting, I met one of
the medics who treated my son as he lay dying at checkpoint 295 which
he said was clearly in Ramadi.
I can only assume
the report Major General Rick Lynch made to the nation December 2 was
intentionally deceiving and it was done to diminish the validity of
the insurgents. What it did diminish was my regard for my
government. This spin control through marginization of truth and
trivializing of individuals feelings for a perceived greater good has
got to stop. It demonstrated a total lack of respect for me, my
family, his fellow soldiers, and most importantly my son.
Mr. President, I ask
you as one father to another to investigate this incident and verify
what happened. If I have somehow been misled by my conclusions you
need to let me know. I have always believed that violence is the
ultimate failure of man to address their differences and participated
in demonstrations of this sentiment, but this incident pushed me to
become an activist, planning demonstrations in opposition to your
policy of war.
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