Dear Christy Miller:

My name is Sykes, I was in the SOI (school of infantry) Machine Gunner class with Aaron. There were 6 of us. I lived with Aaron for 3 months training to become a Machine Gunner, and when I found out about his passing.. it broke my heart.. he was always enthusiastic and motivating.

My very best to you and your family.

Cpl. Sykes 0331

USMC Retired

"He was born on July 1, 1982, at 8:53 p.m. central daylight savings time in Amherst, Texas. Circumcised and sent home on the Fourth of July, he was my breast-fed, blanket-sucking baby boy, a little Linus look-alike."

Uhh, anyone else think the circumcision reference is a little odd? Just asking ...

Please accept my sincerest condolences and sympathy on the loss of your beloved son, Aaron. Being the mother of a nearly 21 year old son, I cannot imagine the depth of your grief, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your moving story with not only the readers of Salon, but the world.

I wish you peace and comfort in the tough days ahead.

Sarah

I'm sorry to say this and I don't want to make anyone feel worse, but you and your son were sold a bill of goods by an insane and evil war machine run by oligarchs who care for nothing except their own profits and who would never risk sending their own children to war. War is the ultimate obscenity, not a normal or necessary institution. There is nothing more degrading to human life than war. Buddhism repudiates it completely, something which I,as and atheist, respect. At one time slavery was a normal human institution and now it is unacceptable - the same thing will happen one day to the perception of the institution of war. I have a young son - I cannot imagine the pain of losing him. War must be eliminated and we must start by rejecting the war culture we have been brainwashed into believing.

Hugs to you, Christy. I cannot fathom what a deep pain it would be to go in to my son's room and know he'll never return. I understand the aching for the 'blankie'. My boy has hidden his somewhere safe - he's 17 and doesn't want anyone to know that he kept his blankie far beyond his pre-school days.

Your loss is our loss, too. Losing young men such as your son is unbearably sad.

Hugs,

-Penger

I am so very sorry for the loss of your son Austin. After I read your article I said a prayer for you that God may grant you all the strength you need and deserve.

Christy, thank you for your courage in writing this article, most certainly a fine testimony to Austin, you and Austin have touched so many of us.

Your writing brings us face to face with what we have allowed to be done to another fine young man, a courageous one. All Americans should have this most illegal war square in our face everyday, we must not be allowed to disconnect from the war and our governments actions in any way.

Austin and so many others have given their lives for 'we the people' and there really is no way to thank him or you .

Defending America is a noble cause. But it is the complete and total responsibility of every citizen of this country to protect our service personnel from the excesses (crimes is more like it) of this government, this political party and the so-called self styled christians who are totally out of control.

'We the people' must see to it that our troops are protected in every way possible.

Austin must have been a wonderful person because you are.

Good luck and God bless

I'm a retired marine, and proud of my service. I sing the Marine corps hymn with my son. But I don't know if I could handle the loss of him. Bless you, your family, and I will always remember the sacrifice of all those who have died to protect our freedom. When the elections come, if we have not taken to the streets, we will have done a disservice to our military family, to rescue them from our current misguided and inept leadership.

Blessings.

My heart goes out to Ms. Miller for her wrenching loss. I hope she can find the courage to do something meaningful with the loss of her son, and I would direct her to the example of Cindy Sheehan.

Only when mothers and fathers speak out forcefully against the senseless loss of young lives in a futile and meaningless foreign war will there be any change. America is apathetic -- we don't lose much sleep over the loss of working class and poor boys and girls, all of whom volunteered for service. It's A-OK as long as our own (affluent) little Buffy's and Biff's are at home sleeping safely in their beds.

The enormity of the tragedy of Austin Miller's death is that it was not to save his country or his fellow man -- I think that a parent can come to terms with that kind of sacrifice in the long run. What you can't come to terms with is when a young life is snuffed out at 22 (or mutilated) for NOTHING....for the profits of Bechtel and Haliburton, for the egos of Rumsfeld and Rice and Cheny and Bush Jr. For, when you come down to the nitty-gritty, MONEY, because that's the only remotely plausible reason for invading a remote third world country that posed no credible threat to ourselves.

It is awful to realize that you lost your beautiful son for this. But you can redeem his loss by working to prevent the loss of other young men and women. I hope in time you can find the strength inside yourself to do exactly this. Thank you.

I just experienced my son's 19th birthday without him. He died at the age of 16 during a PE class due to a heart condition. It was the third birthday since he died. I completly identify with the need to keep the smells and sounds and feels of your son. It is a hole that you learn to live with ("closure" is an obscenity to those of us who have experienced this). Forgiveness is a good thing because anger can eat at you like a cancer.

For those who rail against those who fight in an unjust war: This young man did his job. His mother can be proud of that. Just because the Bush administation did not do theirs is no reason to fault the men and women of the military.

There are no words to offer, but I will give you two quotes that have helped me:

"Nothing can make up for the absence of someone, whom we love, and it would be wrong to try to find a substitute; we must simply hold out and see it through. That sounds very hard at first, but at the same time it is a great consolation, for the gap, as long as it remains unfilled, preserves the bonds between us. It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap; God doesn't fill it, but on the contrary, keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other, even at the cost of pain"--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Just keep swimming"--Dory, "Finding Nemo"