DAY 8
October 10, 2006
 
Utah County was supposed to be a hard sell. It was supposed to be the most conservative county of the most conservative state in the nation, and I heard tell that they hanged war protesters in these parts. Not true. All the honking and waving, thumbs-up and peace signs drowned out the sound of the handful of antagonistic statements.
 
All day we had a steady stream of dedicated and sincere walkers. I met so many wonderful people, it would take too long to mention all of them. There was one in particular, Chris, whom I’d like to write a bit about. He’s a Marine Reservist and he’s had two six-month tours in Iraq. The last one finished in December. He quizzed me on my stance about the war and then told me that he supported the war. He felt we were justified in going in and doing what we did there. Though we didn’t agree on that fact, we did agree on the most important thing: what to do now.
 
His plan is to get out now. He felt that using a military to try and get people to get along was fatally flawed. He felt the war was horribly mismanaged and that for better or worse, it’s time to cut Iraq loose. This is a Marine who has served two times in serious combat, I’d like to see any politician try and call him a “cut and runner.”
 
Personally, I have a lot of hope for Iraq. I think we can leave in a responsible manner. Still, leaving completely and immediately would be better than staying the course. I was pleased to see that even though we have some radically different thoughts on the war, we absolutely agree that there needs to be a change and it needs to happen soon. Chris and I can work out our minor differences, I just hope our government can, as well.