Greg Pizzute was driving his daughters home from a dentist appointment last week. The road from Savannah back to Fort Stewart in Georgia is straight and he kept his eyes trained in that direction, straight ahead, not wavering.
His wife, Brandie, sat next to him. Two of his daughters, Kayleigh and Bella, sat in the back seat, watching a “Cinderella’’ DVD, blissfully unaware of what their father was thinking.
Comments
Thank you Kevin for that personal story and the insight that goes along with it. Bring back the draft, with no college deferments and we will see a quick end to this kind of "war".
A sobering reminder of the sacrifices our men and woman in uniform make for us on a daily basis and not something we should ever take for granted.
Too many people profess to love America while they hate large numbers of their fellow Americans. A year or three of required military or other public service would go a long way toward ending this dichotomy.
We don't even need to discuss the chicken hawks.
Thanks Kevin for sharing SSgt Pizzute's sacrifice and strong sense of Duty. Also, thank you for using you position as a Journalist to bring attention to those who still serve. I wish your Nephew Good Fortune! - Ed Ellis, Corporal, USMC, Ret.
Will pick some daffodils now from outside my door in Dublin, put them in a vase and say a little prayer for the safe return of your nephew each time I look at them. Those that serve are not forgotten, bring them all home soon.
Good story.....and we need to get guys like these back home and soon. Three tours? Too much.
Z
Greg:
Take no offense but do you have any comments on chickenhawks Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld?
They seem to have made a fortune off of the lives of innocent kids who went to war for oil dollars and a military-industrial complex that grows bigger and bigger each year.
dougkinan@yahoo.com
The politics of all wars are wrong - but not honoring the sacrifice of those that serve is equally so.
Good story,I think most of go about our daily lives not giving much thought to the war going on,thank you to all our soldiers who risk their lives to protect our way of life.
Kevin, if your nephew doesn't represent the best of us, I don't know who does. You must be honored to have him as your nephew. Thanks for writing this remarkable column and thanks to Sgt. Pizzute for his exemplary leadership.
Great article, great writing. Hope this is his last tour!
charlie mike
Sgt Pizzute states that the Taliban have been fighting for 2,000 years and have never lost, and that the people of Afghanistan have no access to the outside world. I would assume that the Taliban play an important role in their culture and that outsiders aren't appreciated. It's an impossible task we're asking our military to perform. What a ridiculous waste of life and money, as well as the toll it takes on families like Pizzutes.
Thanks Kevin for once again bringing attention to a worthy subject. Not only is our military forgotten but they're not taken care of well enough when they return. Homelessness is bad enough but the fact that we have homeless vets is a disgrace. I wish a safe return for Sgt Pizzute and all others fighting this senseless war.
Unfortunately, Bendogger, this bit about the Taliban fighting for 2000 years is one impression from Sgt. Pizzute that is simply incorrect. It is unfortunate, 1) because it really can't matter to Sgt. Pizzute, who is simply trying to get his men through this mess without getting killed, or worse, and 2) because a once great culture in Afghanistan will continue to be under threat of extinction by the Taliban, who never represented an iota of Afghan values from the beginning.
Unfortunately, most Americans still have no clue about Afghan culture, including too many of our own soldiers who see it only through a gun sight. One clue is that the Taliban were created from the wreckage of a previous war, and created largely from refugee orphans who never knew their own land or their people beyond an already devastating war. They were then indoctrinated into a violent cult that, like Al Qaida, created its own religion and called it "Islam" to justify a largely ignorant doctrine of violence against their own people. They also called themselves "Afghan" to justify behavior that was anything but. Think about this: the Giant Buddhas stood largely unmolested as Afghan cultural icons for well over a thousand years until the the Taliban arrived to destroy them, along with the rest of Afghan culture.
Another clue is the unsung and truely heroic work that real Afghans are doing to try to recover their real culture, through literacy training, the education of girls and women, and the restoration of civil society in general, all against the still threatening wreckage of war that many Americans mistake for genuine Afghan culture. And, again, American ignorance about the so-called legitimacy of the Taliban as "Afghans" is largely to blame for how this is turning out. No self-respecting, Pashtun, Tadjic, Hazzara, or any other Afghan who knew better would make this mistake, but they are also laboring with this wreckage of war.
So, no one is perfect, not even a real Afghan, when they can be found, but the cavalier and totally irresponsible way in which GW Bush handled Afghanistan, and which only magnified this false impression left to Sgt. Pizzute, will only leave a continuing tragedy in his wake for some time to come. I can only hope that enough good has come of American involvement that someday Sgt. Pizzute's sacrifice and that of his mates will be enough to help bring Afghan culture back from its tragically forgotten origins, so the people of Afghanistan may one day thrive again.
Kevin, Sgt. Pizzute, his squad, and family will be in my thoughts and prayers. Thank-you for the reminder. I may not agree with the war - but our own are our own and they need to be honored and cared for.
I hope when he and his brothers leave the Army they find good jobs. These are our best, and right now we seem to be forgetting about them and the sacrifices they made for us. Vets and their families need more from us when they become civilians. We are doing so little for them right now.
and sisters.
Right you are that the Sgt. Pizzuti's of this country are forgotten, so are their wives and kids who pay a high price for our country's misbegotten wars. Glad to be reminded about how high that price is.
Glad too that there are men like your nephew who soldier on, thank the Army for giving them a second chance and think first of the safety and welfare of the men they command.
Sgt. Greg will never, no matter how successful later in life, hold a higher office than squad leader.
Ed Fouhy, Capt. USMC (ret.)
God bless
begolfing, you are such a military hawk, I would be interested in knowing what "skin in the game" you have had.
Thank you for your article. As a Vietnam vet I still find it amazing even with our All Volunteer force how our soldiers, sailors and airmen continue to handle multiple deployments in what seems to be an unending series of wars. And how families deal with this is even more astounding. 60 Minutes' story on suicides of our servicemen this past weekend is another sad sign of the incredible stress these multiple deployments can cause. To me the most disappointing part (besides wondering why we are still in Afghanistan after all these years)is the point you make that those serving (and their families) make up such a small percentage of our population who share in this sacrifice. Thanks again for bringing attention to your nephew's and his family's service. Paul Joseph, Colonel, USA Retired South Chesterfield, VA
Nice comment. I saw the "60 Minutes" story as well, and found it riveting. The steadfast dedication and sense of duty and responsibility of the soldiers impressed me beyond measure. Man, it was hard to watch, though. I have a friend who has done 3 tours; he's been home a few years, has PTSD, is trying to finish his undergraduate degree, and thank G*d he had the presence of mind to check himself into a hospital last year. He's still struggling, but he's working it out. Best wishes to you, and all that have served, and to Cullen's nephew. My Dad died a few years ago, married in uniform to my Mum, and I will always be proud of him.
I am very supportive of our President, but the biggest mistake President Obama has made is not getting the US out of Afghanistan from his first day in office.
God Bless You Staff Sergeant! Be safe.
God bless Sgt. Pizzute and all those that have served in Afganistan and Iraq. For the rest of us, we should be ashamed at how we conducted these wars. The draft should have been reinstated on Sept. 12, 2001 and taxes should have been increased to pay for whatever wars that followed.
Just remember one thing all of you out there! We are nothing without our military! The enemies would take us to our destruction in a heartbeat.I Love and respect everyone selfishly serving our country!!! Make sure also that you watch over their family and help them as much as you can. Thank God their on our side!! They are the best in the world! There is no equal!! Love all of you with my heart and soul!!!!
Kevin, Thank You--We need the draft back now. M/F's, no deferments, everyone goes. Eliminate all the contractors--plenty of work and fighting to do.
Dare I say this? My late brother was in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam when I marched against the war in Vietnam. He later came to admit that this war was a big tragic mistake. But, boy, no one wants us now to say that the soldiers going to Afghanistan are not doing the right thing. It's taboo to say that, isn't it? I intensely dislike people who say I am not a patriot, etc. I feel that those who sign up to fight where they should never even be, as in the case of Afghanistan, are throwing away their lives for nothing. Period.
Correction: I intensely dislike it WHEN anyone says I am not a patriot because of what I said and believe. (Not, I intensely dislike anyone...etc.)
“We just need to keep an eye open,” Pizzute said. “Most of the Afghans in the police and army are great guys. They want the same thing as we do. We want them to do well. We want them to take responsibility for the security of their own country. For me, it’s important that we complete this mission, and leave the Afghan people with a well-trained, competent army and police force. I don’t want all my brothers who have died in combat over the last 12 years to have died for nothing.”
COMMENT ON THIS EXCERPT: So why are we there? To help the Afghans to fend for themselves? What? Are we supposed to be the policemen of the world? This is not right.
Help them maybe, if we can afford it, but not with our own blood.
Damn, Martha, you turned this entire conversation around to bring up a point I had in the back of my mind while reading this whole piece. I believe you are patriotic. While I certainly appreciate the sacrifices of all the soldiers involved in these two debacles, I wonder why they choose to go back for multiple tours.
Maybe my mind set comes from the Viet Nam war when most soldiers were satisfied that their one year tour was enough. Another reason to reinstate the draft if we are ever fooilsh enough to go to war again. Correction, WHEN we go back to war. Since we learned nothing from Viet Nam and Iraq I doubt that America will ever be without war. It is much too profitable for the military industrial complex.
I suppose the men and women that chose multiple tours do it out of a sense of patriotism. The influence of draftees from higher social classes might temper that a bit and provide some balance. But lawmakers, and I believe especially Republican lawmakers, will fight the reinstatement of the draft to protect their own.
Thanks, Greg Pizzute.
Peter Haviland First Infantry Division C.I.B. Purple Heart
Martha, my father-in-law was a career Marine. Graduated Annapolis Naval Academy ca. 1951. Saw combat in Korea and Vietnam. About the only time I heard him talk politics was about 10 years ago when he made clear his views on the Vietnam war. We had been talking about an older gentleman we knew who had traveled to Vietnam for a reunion of Vietnamese rebels that he had worked with during WWII - fighting against the Japanese. Among the people he had worked with then was Ho Chi Minh btw. After that conversation my father-in-law stated emphatically why in his view the Vietnam war was an unmitigated disaster and waste of life and treasure. That was also about the only time I ever heard him talk about Vietnam. God rest your soul Richard, we miss you.