Quotes from Kevin Sites

The story is about being loyal to the truth as a nation, that citizens of a democracy are collectively responsible for what their troops do in war, good or bad.

Failure to communalize grief can imprison a person in endless swinging between rage and emotional deadness as a permanent way of being in the world.

As Tick writes in War and the Soul, "Our society must accept responsibility for its warmaking. To the returning veterans, our leaders and people must say, 'you did this in our name and because you were subject to our orders, we lift the burden of your actions from you and take it onto our shoulders. We are responsible for you, for what you did and the consequences.

in his book Achilles in Vietnam, former Veterans Affairs psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Shay warns about what happens, to both soldiers and society, when those stories are never told. "We can never fathom the soldier's grief if we do not know the human attachment which battle nourishes and then amputates," he says. "Failure to communalize grief can imprison a person in endless swinging between rage and emotional deadness as a permanent way of being in the world.

I also worry that my reporting will become this deluge of tragedy for people, who like myself, unable or uncertain of what to do, let it wash over them. Some African journalists call it poverty porn—stories or images of intense suffering designed solely for emotional impact, but often have the effect of shutting people down rather than helping them step up.

The Marines see that I'm a television reporter working solo—shooting, writing and transmitting my reports without a crew—and they tell me they like my self-reliance. I tell them it's a necessity, because no one wants to work with me anymore.

Others, however, perhaps overwhelmed by what they read, say Africa should be written off, that it's beyond repair. My experiences so far say we should put it in perspective. For instance, a new nation that has just won its independence from a colonial power struggles with internal graft and corruption, civil war and economic turbulence—more developed nations see it as a basket-case. Yet 200+ years later it emerges as the world's sole superpower. Yes, America.

But he's happy to draw the distinctions between us. Within minutes of learning about our common conflict zones he tells me, without a whiff of irony, "I hate journalists." "Get in line," I tell him. It's not like I haven't heard the sentiment before.

The past is now the past—done, finished, a part of my life which has been put away as one does a completed novel. Today, I can once again breathe the cool, refreshing air of springtime. Today, I can reflect on my life and accept myself as one who has made mistakes and rectified them. Today, I have found peace of mind. Today, the grave is open and my soul and I are reunited. Tom Saal, November 2010

I made friends with three country Marines and a navy medic who provide security for the base—and who, in the course of their duties, confiscated four horses from Iraqi men who came too close to the base with carts, supposedly to collect scrap metal.

Killing is the ultimate refutation of our own humanity.

I don't tie in the Palestinian history to my father's. Their story is about nationalism and independence and not about genocide or murdering a nation.

While he and his father were closer to the political right during their younger years, they've moderated and both agree that a two-state solution, one Jewish, one Arab, is the only chance for peaceful cohabitation in the region.

Part of that, Tailer knows, is because of the unit's experience. Even though reservists like him have left their civilian lives suddenly to put on their IDF (Israel Defense Forces) uniforms again after Emergency Call-Up Order 8, they are not new to Lebanon.