Here are a selection from some of the emails I’m forwarding to Army Captain Ian Fishback. Add your support by emailing supportfishback@aol.com. If you are a blogger and care about this, please post an item with the email address and explain to your readers what this is about. Maybe the blogosphere can help here as well. Let me know if you have joined the effort and I will compile a list of blogs in support of our effort. I am extremely heartened by the response so far. It reminds me that America still is a great country, because Americans are a great people. And they will overcome our present crisis and restore honor to the country and military they love.
*
Thank you for your efforts to maintain the honor and integrity of the United States by upholding your own integrity. I do not think the ideals of an open democracy are served by pretending that we do not make mistakes. Only by accepting responsibility for those mistakes, and attempting to make right what is wrong, can we hope to embody our ideals, and to show others their strength. Key to that is the moral courage to do right and to fight for the highest ideals.
Your actions greatly strengthen my confidence in the US military and government. I cannot think you are alone in your personal integrity and fidelity. Please do not think that you are alone in your struggle. Many watch and admire your courage.
*
My people came to this continent from Europe in 1652. 125 years later, we fought for freedom in the War of Independence. Down through the generations to my own parents, both of whom served. My uncle and my grandfather both gave their lives in service to this country.
It makes me proud of America to see someone in service today stand up and fight for the ideas that have made this country great. It is only through the bravery and integrity of men like you that we can keep our nation strong and ensure that this generation does not fail those who have guarded the ideals of the American Revolution through the centuries.
My grandfather had a saying: It isn’t integrity unless it costs you something; otherwise it is just a coincidence that makes you look good. I can hardly imagine how much this is costing you, Captain. May God give you the strength to continue the fight for what is good and right about America.
*
I know these must be dark times for you. As a man who “saw wrong and tried to right it,” I’m filled with pride in your actions. You are a hero, and you stand with other heroes who stood up against what they knew was wrong. Through history, there were millions who thoughtlessly and blindly obeyed authority, mostly without consequence. You have chosen the harder path, where it is possible that your only reward is the knowledge that you did the right thing.
It is men like you that make our nation great. Thank you.
*
Captain Fishback, what you’ve done epitomizes the best of America, and I hope that your courage and clear thinking help us to face this terrible chapter in our history and to become the nation we ought to be. You’re a credit to your family, your education and your country. God bless.
*
Captain Fishback, I can’t imagine what you are going through at this time. All I can say is I had wondered where the military my father, grandfather, great-uncle and a couple of great-great-great grandfathers served in. You know the one that started with General Washington that held itself with honor, that treated its captured enemies with dignity even when it wasn’t returned. The military whose conduct was in large part responsible for the good will that America has had in the world until recently. The miliary that was so honorable that German WWI vets told their sons going to fight in WWII that if they had to surrender, surrender to an American. They would treat you with respect. I know now that that military is not gone. It’s alive in you, and I hope thousands like you. I pray that God gives you strength in the days ahead. You are a hero.
*
As a supporter of the war, I want to thank you for standing up for what’s right. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” – Gandhi
You will be vindicated.
*
Captain Fishback, thank you. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Thanks for picking up my share of the bill.
*
I would like to thank you for your service to our country and the values for which it stands. My father was 82nd Airborne and I grew up proud of our military and our country. Please know that many of us understand that what you are fighting for is the quality of the freedom that our armed services have bled, died and triumphed for since the founding of this great nation. There can be no compromise to expediency because there are no shortcuts to morality. It is its own reward. And you, like my father, seem to understand that there is no virtue in fighting for the freedom to be anything less than the best that we can be.
Thank you so much for having the courage to care for these great ideals. It is inspirational and deeply, deeply appreciated.
The Dish 