Is it only me that finds it strange that families of our soldiers fighting in Iraq are having to do fundraising to pay for body armor? Reading the story in today’s Bee about the subject got me thinking about the old saying from the ‘60s that went something like this: “Wouldn’t it be great if schools had all the money they needed and the Air Force had to hold bake sales to buy bombers?”

Well, apparently that's now the case. The Bee story discussed a Fresno father raising money for body armor for his son, a sergeant in the Army Special Forces, and other members of his unit.

I understand parents wanting to do all they can to protect their sons and daughters fighting in a far-away war. I'd do the same if I were in their shoes. But my question is that if this war is so fundamental to our national security, why won’t we as a nation provide state-of-the-art equipment to our soldiers?