Young Woman Meets Tragic End

No, not that former Playboy bunny. Editor & Publisher reports on another woman whose death was tragically reported on the very same day. But unlike the useless parasite with no redeeming social value, this woman was a far more serious person. Her name was Jennifer Parcell. She was 20 years old. She joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2005 and was killed in Iraq. She doesn't get a Wikipedia page. She doesn't get press coverage. She doesn't get thousands of photos of her on the Web. Yet she was a far, far better person than the useless parasite.

Says Centcom's statement: "Cpl. Jennifer M. Parcell, 20, of Bel Air, Md., died Feb. 7 while supporting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Parcell was assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 3, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan." That dry paragraph doesn't say anything about how this young woman sponsored a child in Africa. About her service providing humanitarian assistance in Pakistan after the earthquake there, or about the six medals she earned in her short two years of service. It doesn't say anything about her love of the water, scuba diving and boating, or her hobbies of yoga and music. It doesn't say anything about how she was taking college courses towards her degree, even from Iraq, thanks to the miracles of the Internet. It doesn't say anything about how much she loved her big brother Joseph and wanted to be a Marine like him, and made it come true. It doesn't say much of anything except that she's dead. She will never again scuba dive or hug her brother or help others. She's dead. Dead dead dead. And the world is a worse place for it.

A right wing poster, in a response to a previous posting on my blog, says "The public debate and political disharmony that should never accompany a military mission, justified or not, has put the situation where it is." I respectfully disagree. We live in a democracy, not a military dictatorship. Public debate is what happens in a democracy when our leadership goes to war when it is not clear and obvious that war is necessary. Public debate and political disharmony is a symptom, not a cause. It was the lies that took us into Iraq, and the incompetence thereafter, that cause the public debate and political disharmony, not vice versa. As long as there are young men and women like Jennifer Parcell being placed into harm's way, as long as there are young men and women like Jennifer Parcell being injured, disabled, or killed, we have a right, nay, a duty, as citizens of a democracy to question whether this is a wise and appropriate use of the best of our youth. And if our leaders cannot answer that question to our satisfaction, it is not only our right, but our duty to debate and dissent. That is our duty as a citizen of a democracy. It is sad that some people view it as more important to unify behind leaders who have shown that they are not worthy of such. But as a citizen of a democracy, I have both the right and the duty to respectfully disagree.

--Badtux the Citizen Penguin

There are thousands of photos of the dead parasite on the web but the above is probably the only photo of a serious young woman that will ever be published. Pfc. Jennifer Parcell reads a Medal of Honor citation during a stop at a memorial on Iwo Jima Sept. 27. 2005