RIP, Branden

November 10, 2004 1:09 PM

Branden Ramey was killed in Fallujah, days after calling home and encouraging his family to vote for George W. Bush. Branden was six months older than me. His father and my father are best friends. Branden got his wish. I hope it was worth it. Poor kid.
posted by u.n. owen (14 comments total)

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posted by alms at 1:12 PM on November 10, 2004

Sad story and sadder that he died thinking George Bush actually gave a damn about him.
posted by fenriq at 1:29 PM on November 10, 2004

i'm sorry you father's friend's son was killed, but aren't you abusing his memory somewhat by trying to make a cheap political point? i doubt he was killed because he urged his parents to vote in a way you may disapprove of, and i doubt his doing otherwise would have saved him.

just how low will you people stoop before you start to feel even slightly ashamed?
posted by andrew cooke at 1:30 PM on November 10, 2004

I'm so sorry...all the deaths (on all sides) are so wrong in so many ways...it's awful.
posted by amberglow at 1:31 PM on November 10, 2004

"just how low will you people stoop before you start to feel even slightly ashamed?"

We've been asking the same question for four years now, and BushCo still ain't hit bottom.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:34 PM on November 10, 2004

I blame Sgt Grumbles. :(
posted by Fstop at 1:34 PM on November 10, 2004

I can't stand George Bush and think the Iraq war is a colossal mistake. Still, I agree with Andrew Cooke that you are cheapening Branden's memory to make a political point.

Or, to put it another way, maybe Branden died for something he believed in, no matter how many of us think he is wrong.
posted by fletchmuy at 1:40 PM on November 10, 2004

[agrees with andrew cooke and fletchmay]
posted by hackly_fracture at 1:42 PM on November 10, 2004

[fletchmuy]
posted by hackly_fracture at 1:42 PM on November 10, 2004

I understand this is probably an emotional and trying time, and I can sympathize with that, but I'm not sure if this is the place to express such feelings. I mean this might be a relevant comment in a thread, but it hardly seems like it's keeping in the spirit of the site.
posted by The God Complex at 1:51 PM on November 10, 2004

Branden got his wish. I hope it was worth it. Poor kid.

That comes off very smug. You're basically implying that he asked for it. I agree that the war is a sham, but I don't respect your framing, especially at the expense of a family friend. Geez, get over yourself.
posted by Mach3avelli at 1:56 PM on November 10, 2004

If Kerry had won, would this soldier still be alive? Because Bush is still serving his first term as President.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:56 PM on November 10, 2004

Branden's the third person I've known who has died in this war. And I think it's terrible that the soldiers over there are brainwashed enough to think that the person who got them into this mess actually "supports" them in any meaningful way.

I don't think it cheapens his memory even a little. The irony hurts me, because he was betrayed. The president delayed the assault on Fallujah until his reelection was secured, and then gave us the highest single-day death toll in months. And Branden believed in him. Shouldn't the president be ashamed of what he's done and what he's continuing to do? I know at least a dozen more people in Iraq. My mother has scores of former students there. Every time I hear about a death I wonder if it's someone I know, or that my family knows. I'm bringing it to your attention - Bush is betraying some of his biggest backers, our soldiers. And if you think that cheapens his death, I think you're looking for excuses to whine.

Sometimes a death does serve as a focal point - particularly when the irony value is strong. The sense of betrayal I get is just huge from the whole situation, though. It's just awful.
posted by u.n. owen at 1:56 PM on November 10, 2004

(and no, the implication isn't that he'd still be alive. But I wonder how many of his friends and my friends will be dead in another four years. And that saddens me more than you can imagine. Three in the space of a year and a half...at this rate, I will have lost ten people I know in this war before Bush's second term ends.)

If you guys don't stop crapping on the thread, Haughey, great leader o' mine, could you please delete it? His father might read this, and I wouldn't want him to have to deal with this stuff.
posted by u.n. owen at 1:59 PM on November 10, 2004