The news cycle lately isn’t very comforting to anyone, but I am feeling a particularly angst-ridden as a Veteran, because I can feel – in the depths of my being – the great terror being experienced by families across this country (USA) who are impacted by the reality of a troop deployment into a war zone.
For those never having served, I think that the context of being at the mercy of someone else might be an abstract concept. It is initially to many of us who enlist, for sure. Yes, we all enter active (or reserve) duty with a full awareness that we are serving at the behest of the Commander in Chief of the United States, and at any moment, may be sent out to “preserve the freedom” of our country, but this is not usually an everyday thought – especially in peace time.
In a World War II context, this constant readiness feels noble, patriotic, and right. Since the conflict in Vietnam, however; this has taken on many different feelings – among avowed conscientious objectors, as well as military personnel, veterans, and their families.
The reason? Dying or even getting wounded for our country hasn’t been as obviously necessary as it was in the 1940’s. Even the call to arms after 9/11 was complicated by the incursion into Iraq, which lost the United States the majority of service members in the larger conflicts of that time, in terms of dead and wounded.
From 2001 through 2021 the United States saw 1,922 service members, 18 CIA operatives and 1,822 contractors killed in Afghanistan and 4,418 service members killed in Iraq. We will recall that the call to arms for expanding our forces into Iraq was that the Iraqi regime had “weapons of mass destruction!” which were never found and would have surely been deployed against the invading US troops had they been in Iraq’s military arsenal.
| Conflict | U.S. Military Deaths | Wounded |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | ~2,459 | ~20,769 |
| Iraq | ~4,418 | ~31,994 |
| Total | ~6,877 | ~52,763 |
Having been on active duty, and feeling that helplessness of having absolutely no say in where I am sent, or told what to do, AND when I look at the outcomes from Iraq and Afghanistan,… I am sick to my stomach about what’s going on right now. And there’s not much I can do.
I can vote, help to educate others, and do my best to use my voice as a Veteran to support a more conscientious application of troop deployment, and that’s about it. It certainly doesn’t feel like much, let along “enough“, and so I find refuge for my anxiety, my worry and yes, my terror for the people in harm’s way and waiting to be sent into harms way, by immersing myself in fiber arts activities.
The featured photo on the main website landing page shows 2 crocheted drawstring bags that I made for a friend’s granddaughters a few years back. I love that pattern, and found a great tutorial on the channel “Hopeful Turns“. I am feeling the urge to make another one of these, but my own little granddaughter already has several Easter basket/bags that I made for her, so perhaps I’ll make one just for myself this time.
Below I have shared photos of previous Easter/Spring fiber projects, including crocheted mini-backpack (keychains), a wire-wreath wrapped with “loopy yarn” to make a festive bunny, and my 2nd-littlest granddaughter’s Easter “basket/bag” from 2 years ago (purple) as well as the crocheted eggs and basket from 3 years ago.
The older grandkids prefer gift cards, I know, but I might be hiding those in a crocheted holder of some sort – just for fun – and in remembrance of when THEY were the little ones, delighted with some silly thing that Grammy made for them. One year my sister and I made fabric/sewn eggs which are pictured at the top of this post and are delightful uses for fabric scraps!
No, I cannot repair the world. In fact, my options, like most people reading this post, are limited. I can do small things in my corner of the world, and I am working on starting/hosting a fiber arts group for Veterans as a safe community to create beauty and joy in a world that is often so distant from that. The research I’ve done on fiber arts groups in this area tells me that there are currently NO Veteran-centric groups, which tells me my instincts may be right on target.
Stay tuned for updates OR reach out (email me) for more details.
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Fiber Harmony (Stitch 'n Dish) 