I have had the misfortune of seeing this happen too many times.
I have gotten to them in time to counteract what they have done.
I have gotten to them in time to see their last breath, and been blessed to be able to return them to life.
I have seen them do it again, and I don't get there in time.
I have seen the pain they leave as their epitaph.
I have never been able to understand why they would risk all for a moment.
These children, many times students, with a wonderful future...gone.
We are all struck with anger and sadness, the wish to stop this from happening.
We look to capture and punish the dealer of drugs.
I have taken many of them down, only to find that they are lost and misdirected just as much as the victims themselves.
We cannot believe that it is possible to stop this by retaliation/punishment of the drug dealer, because we do not have the facility to catch them and lock them up fast enough to ever win this battle, even though we are good at it.
The enemy is ignorance.
I have been a warrior all of my life, just as so many of you are as well.
I have fought for my country, while my friends have protested.
I have studied the arts of war and fighting for decades.
I read these forums and, (I just recently found this one), because I see the honor and character that pervades the way that all of you live your lives, and I am encouraged to believe there are still men of character here.
I am encouraged, in these times, by the response of our young men to
rise to the challenge to fight for the rights of all men as our forefathers have done in the past. When so many have no understanding of history, they stand up to the hardest tasks with respect for all that have earned for us the freedoms that we have. They are our hope for the future.
The point.
We cannot stop the evil things that happen by attacking the apparent problem, the problem is in the nature of man, and this is what we must endeavor to improve. We need to offer an alternative to the drive for instant gratification that is so commonplace in modern society. We need to teach the values of self discipline, honor and courage that grants gratification that is greater and last a lifetime.
Nowhere have I ever found any one with stronger values than those of a man with a warriors mentality. Those that are prepared and are willing to fight are the ones that cherish peace and life more than anyone.
Those, with that kind of self discipline, are the ones that will not be drawn into the culture of instant gratification. Those are the ones that are going to be able to fend off the peer pressure that draws them into this culture.
So the enigma is that we must teach our children, as early as possible, to learn the strengths of the warrior to achieve peace and harmony.
This appears to me to offer a better chance of success than the never ending war against those that propagate the evils in our modern society.
I apologize for the long post, but I have seen this so many times that I truly do understand the horror of what you are going through and I wish that I could say something positive to help. I have spent many hours mourning the senseless loss and trying to put this feeling of helplessness into perspective.
The only positive solution I have ever been able to see revolves around the improvement of basic human nature. The best attributes to achieve stability, peace and harmony, by some strange course through the gordian knot, seems to be in the strength of the warrior.
I, too, have a 27 year old son who can't seem to find his direction, and is still motivated by peer pressure and a mindset towards instant gratification.
My greatest fear is that I will get dispatched to a scene involving him much the same as the horror that you have had to face.
God bless you, and may your strength carry through this terrible time.
-Scott
