 Good afternoon. My name is Gilda Carbonaro and I'm the mother of Sergeant Alessandro Carbonaro. I have been a member of a military family speak out and then became a member of Gold Star Family speak out when my son was killed in Iraq in 2006. He was killed doing reconnaissance missions. He was the team leader of a team of Marines in the Al Ambar province. I'm speaking to you today to try to describe to you what it was like those years before our son was killed in the run up to the war. And in the years after that when George Bush began to speak of invading Iraq after 9-11 we were we were devastated. Our son had become had re-enlisted in the Marines after 9-11 in his in his sentiments to to be protective. He was a Marine and so we were devastated when George Bush announced that he was going to be invading Iraq. We know our history. We know we knew then what would happen. In fact we wrote many letters titled the Pandora's Box and I'm sorry to say how how prescient our emails were. Our son was deployed for the assault on Fallujah where he was injured and then was sent back again. He came home from from the attack on Fallujah and then was sent back to to Iraq where he wouldn't last even a month. It was in 2006 where it was impossible to stay alive if you were out on the field in Iraq. They they wanted us out of there. They we had no business there and and and they wanted us out of there and they were doing it the best way they could with bombs and our son was injured and we went to Lamstool to see him for the last the last moments that he had of life. I would like to say something to you regarding losing a son and losing an only child to war to to a war like this which was based on outrageous lies. It's easy to to look away from for me but please listen. Our life before our son was killed was was a horror living moment to moment not knowing when you when you would get the call and then the death of that child that child that you raised that child that was only 20 80 years old with an entire life ahead of him to live. It's well you'll never understand it doesn't matter what I tell you you'll never understand what it's like but I would like for you to understand that that a president that lies about war the way George Bush did and all his administration there has to be accountability for that there has to be some kind of justice for the lives of those souls that died that didn't have a chance to live where these people who called who called for this war are now living very pleasant lives and very soon will gather around a table to celebrate Thanksgiving and not have a thought about the sadness that they caused is it's not right and there should be justice and there should be accountability and other countries have called for this there has been the chill cut report in England and we should have ours it's only right it's only fair in the name of all those men and women who didn't have a chance to live who went and fought a war that should never have been fought