Soldier died for ideals, not in vain.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By John and Linda Gibson For The Register-Guard

On Dec. 27, as we said goodbye to our son, Sgt. Brennan C. Gibson, The Register-Guard ran a guest viewpoint by Charles Porchia. With the wounds of our loss still painfully bleeding, our first emotional impression of the letter was of anger and hurt.

We were outraged that Porchia took liberty to use our precious son's death as means to further his political anti-war views. By doing so he not only appeared to be judging our son's efforts and ultimate sacrifice to be in vain, but he also appeared to demean and scourge the very country Brennan so dearly loved - and willingly died for.

Brennan proudly enlisted in the United States Army. He did so fully aware that he would be fighting against individuals and foreign armies who would seek to do harm to America and its citizens.

Brennan believed what President Bush has stated many times: That if we don't fight the war against terrorism over there, we will fight against those people on our own soil. In the final hours we spent together before he left for Iraq, Brennan told me, ``Mom, we need to be there.''

For Porchia to say that he died for no good reason in another senseless war reduces the life of our son and countless other soldier sons and daughters to lives of no value - ironically, much in the same way Porchia and his own Vietnam comrades were so shamefully perceived.

But to Porchia - and to those who hold his view - we don't want to respond with the same bitterness and unresolved rage. To such a man, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, we offer the same words of thanks and honor and hope that we extend to our own son.

We believe that no man who falls on the battlefield in service to his country, however ill-conceived or unholy that war may be perceived, has died in vain or without purpose.

After struggling through Porchia's battle-weary political assessments of our nation's war sins, we could see that his heart was actually trying to connect to ours in the loss of our son - and for that we are grateful. We can also understand his connection to Brennan as a fellow soldier.

Our prayer is that Porchia will someday be able to connect with soldiers such as Brennan who believed in the country and the leadership and the ideals that the United States strives to attain, a belief and faith strong enough to freely volunteer to defend, and even die for.

John and Linda Gibson are the parents of Sgt. Brennan Gibson, a 1997 graduate of Thurston High School who was killed in Iraq on Dec. 10.