I was just reading Yahoo news and the San Antonio Express newspaper.  You know what upsets me? People with absolutely nothing to do with their lives, so they complain about how the U.S. is treating the prisoners or "Detainees" from Afghanistan.

Do you know why they are complaining?  They see a picture on the news or the Internet and they see someone who is shackled, blindfolded, walking with two armed guards behind razor wire.  This picture tells them they are treated unfairly.

Here is what I see:  I see a thin, sickly looking person who under severe mental duress from being bombed, was cleaned up, given a haircut to prevent infestation of parasites, and given new clothes and shoes to wear.  I see a person who is given three nutritious meals per day and a bed to sleep in a tropical climate, not the cold desert floor of Afghanistan, eating worms, bugs, and goat.

I see a person who will be able to get relief from their pains and illnesses without paying a dime for medical expenses.  They will get rest, educated and their mental stress levels will have dropped tremendously because they were taken out of a combat area and will not be shot at again.

I see these people blindfolded and shackled behind razor wire.  I have the intellectual ability to understand why they are this way.  For those who do not have this ability, let me explain it to you.  They are blindfolded to protect OUR U.S. SOLDIERS from further harm.  These people cannot plan to destroy something if they cannot see it.  They are shackled because these same people have proven they will easily give up their lives to kill just ONE AMERICAN.  We are protecting their life as well as our own.  The razor wire is a mental deterrent, just like the little alarm company warning signs most of you out there have on your home, but don't have the actual alarm system.  You would think many times over before actually trying to cross that razor wire.  For all of you people out there thinking how bad these poor detainees have it under such strict guard, you need to do a lot more thinking about other things in your life.

I was born on September 11th, 1966, and every birthday I have from now on will never be a happy one.  Why, do you ask? Because as I am out somewhere trying to have a nice dinner, someone will have a candle or a ribbon or something, crying about the anniversary of a national tragedy.  And then I will think about how insignificant my one little birthday actually is compared to everything else that had happened on that one day.

It boggles my mind that there are actually people out there in this world, in leadership positions, heads of companies, who actually think we are doing something wrong when it comes to protecting our nation and our people.  These same people will be the first ones to complain about something that happens to them when they are vacationing outside this country.  They will ask why the U.S. does not do anything about their misfortune.  These are the same people who complain about taxes and how bad their lives actually are.

If you receive this email, please pass it on to everyone in your address book.  I am not afraid or ashamed to speak my piece.  I am an American, my father fought for this country and was willing to die for it.