“…have a great time dieing in the war. From, Miguel.”

Sometimes you come across something that makes you feel like the world just might be going to hell in a handbasket. This is one of them.

Let Lisa, who was there, tell you the story:

During our visit to Walter Reed, we all piled into a room of a young soldier who had just come out of surgery. His parents were there to take care of him. His room was decorated with autographed photos…one from Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac who had visited the previous day…others of professional football players. There was also a card from a child…a get well card…

..or so one would think.

It was actually a “I hope you die” card. Think I’m kidding? I’m not. We were all speechless. Now I gave my word to the Public Relations officer of Walter Reed that I wouldn’t publish any pictures of the soldiers that I took. I’m not sure if that covers pictures of cards, but until I get clarification, I will only quote the card for you and tell you that the handwriting looked like it was from a child in the third to fourth grade.

Here’s what it said….

Dear Soldier,

Have a great time in the war.

And have a great time dieing in the war.

From,

Miguel Gallier

P.S. Die

(there were bullet holes drawn around the word “Die”)

I fully realize that there are plenty of people who hate our soldiers with a white-hot burning hatred. I run across them in the blogosphere and on intermet message boards all the time. It’s unfortunate that these folks are so very ungreteful and full of vitriol, but they’re adults and they are accoutable for their own vileness.

To use a small child to carry that hate to the very heart of one of those reviled soldiers is miles and miles beyond the pale. That card came from a school. A kindergarten teacher had to have seen it and approved it. More than that, the teacher had to be complicit in seeding the child’s head with the idea they should do that.

I’m the oldest of nine kids. I’ve been around children all my life. Let me tell you that unless an adult administers careful control, almost daily doctrination, and herding away from atural instincts, a five year-old boy is going to think a soldier is about one of the coolest things in the world. Toy stores are filled to the brim with toy M-16s, green helmets, binoculars, and bags of little green army men and their tanks and jeeps for that very reason. GI Joe has been popular for longer than I’ve been alive because of that.

Soldiers are heroes to little boys almost universally unless someone purposefully and deliberately tells them otherwise. To turn the mind of a little boy from thinking a soldier is a hero and someone to be emulated to getting him to sit down and write hate mail to a soldier takes more than just casual talks around the dinner table.

It takes intent. It takes effort. Someone deliberately coaxed that child into writing that note and I’d bet that his teacher played a very large role in that.

I very much hope that someone saved the card’s envelope and that they find out from which school that card was sent. Then I hope they find out from which teacher’s class that card came. Then I hope they fire that teacher for not only allowing but encouraging a five year-old boy to send that hate-filled card.

Do you think I’m being strict? How would you feel if a kindergarten student had sent a card fro mhis school to a wounded police officer that read “…have fun being shot by a drug dealer” or to a firefighter that said “…have fun dieing in your next fire”? How might that teacher feel if one of her coworkers had been hurt breaking up a fight at school and they got a card from another student that said “…have fun dieing when you come back”?

I imagine there’d be an uproar in the MSM and that teachers everywhere would step forward, nearly as one, to condemn that teacher. I don’t imagine that you’d find many people who would be blase when they chose to comment on it.

I wonder if we’ll hear a similar uproar. My guess is that, very shortly, we’ll know a good deal more about this, thanks to the blogosphere. We may even know the name of the teacher from whose class this card came. I doubt she’ll be fired at all, or even be reprimanded. Shecould well become our next media darling – the brave educator who taught her students to speak truth to power and struck a powerful blow against the cruel occupiers.

Really though, all that teacher is when you get right down to it, is a person who abused their power and filled a child’s head with hate. And that shouldn’t be tolerated. By anyone.

UPDATE: Gennie wants to see this soldier get a whole bunch of good get-well cards and provides a way you can help. I think that’s a fine idea.