I am an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Navy. I am also a father who has lost two daughters — their deaths were not connected to military service. Until one has been a parent who has lost a child, that person cannot understand that there is no loss of equal measure.

It is time to stand up and be counted. The government will not act if the silent majority does not demand action.

We lost 58,000 children needlessly in Vietnam in a war, we could not and did not win. Evidently President Obama has not learned that lesson. He sets a political departure time of 2014 for the military to leave Afghanistan.

Recently, three marines were ambushed and killed by an Afghan citizen. And seven U.S. military men were killed when their helicopter was shot down. The commanding general said these losses are acceptable, considering that we have 33,000 troops in country, and the Secretary of Defense supports him.

Enough is enough. We need to get out of Afghanistan today, not in two years. This is a repeat of Vietnam and not worth the price of one more American life.

We have a choice: Either play the game with the rest of the politicians and stay silent or use the influence of the silent majority and let our friends, neighbors, the media and elected official understand that we’ve had enough.

The presidential candidates rant and rave about renewable energy. But one thing is not renewable. That is a parent’s needless loss of a child.

Challenge elected officials to answer a parent’s first question: Why? We cannot and will not win this war.

Howard Gelbman, Key Largo