Please refer above to my disclaimer. This is my blog and the beauty of the innerwebz is that I can write whatever I want and throw it up here so I find it unnecessary to apply my half-assed broken filter to it. Even when I attempt to filter my thoughts and opinions I normally have little to no luck with it. So once again you are reading this at your own risk.
The last thing I posted about Memorial Day seemed to spark some interesting conversation. Considering how much I enjoy conversations, especially interesting ones, on controversial topics I thought I would share some additional thoughts. If you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about right now you need to refer to the link posted on my Facebook page concerning the last blog. If for some reason you read this blog and aren't my friend on Facebook please feel free to friend me but be warned then your wall will be subject to all kinds of craziness.
Anyways, I inspired a few opinions to come out about respecting those who serve and how I think it shouldn't be just on Memorial or Veterans Day. Some think I went a bit far because saying that may offend those that do in fact take it a step further and do thank, respect, and appreciate the troops day in and day out. Now, normally I would give to flying shits about who I offend. However, this is a little different and I want to say that for those people who are like that, Thank You for what you do. I know many of us appreciate that. I honestly meant no offense but can see how what I wrote could be taken the wrong way and I wasn't speaking of everyone in general. I was speaking about those that take days like that as another long weekend and excuse to party. As well as those that only find it in themselves to reflect just one or two days a year. That shit kind of pisses me off and I'll get into that in a minute.
The topic was also brought up about those that don't respect anyone who serves. The list is longer than you'd think and although it is no where near as bad as the Vietnam era it's still rampant in this country. To give you just a few examples. I've been referred to as a baby killer on more than one occasion. I have been subject to protests on more than one occasion. When I say protests I'm not talking Anti-War protests, I'm talking Anti-troop protests. I really like the Anti-War protests because it means people are exercising their rights and they are demonstrating that they believe these wars are being fought for the wrong reasons, etc. As a kid I thought war was cool. When I became a Marine I thought it would be awesome to finally do what I had trained to hard for during my first years in. Although it is an unbelievable feeling to lead Marines in combat their is a very harsh reality involved in war that ingrains itself in your soul that can never be washed away. In the words of Dave Chapelle, "When keepin' it real goes wrong." Yeah that about sums it up. I digress. For those that don't respect the troops to begin with it is what it is and any holiday dedicated to that is just not going to change their mind. However, upsetting that may be, it's reality. These people have their beliefs and there really isn't anything we can do about it. Arguing is pointless and only fuels their fire and really won't accomplish much. It's the same as the religion argument, people believe what they believe and it's difficult and in some cases damn near impossible to change their convictions.
Now for those people that only choose the one or two days a year to reflect on service members and use the holidays as an excuse to party it up, well here is why that more or less pisses me off. In all honesty I think those who serve deserve a little more. Although I can see the point of not wanting fake handshakes and thank you's I also want to say that sometimes, when you do the fake, it leads to something a little more real. In the Corps we have a little underground saying about motivation. Sometimes you gotta fake it 'til you make it. Somewhere along the lines you may realize that there is something else inspiring about it. Which is why I think it shouldn't be just one day. For those that come home from war, the reality of it doesn't hit you one or two days a year. It's constant. That's the thing. As hard as some of us try you can't get away from it. You learn to deal, to cope, to ignore, to move on a little but it's haunting. I think more people need to recognize that and not have the attitude of I did it one day or two days this year so I'm good. It's one of those things that many vets see and resent some people that haven't done what they have. It's why so many of them shut the door on so many aspects of their life. So what I wrote yesterday had more to do with waking some people up to the reality of what others deal with. I'm not looking for constant handshakes or thanks. That's not my thing. However, I think if more people showed more interest in what these guys did over there that it would help. Maybe sitting down or stopping to have a brief conversation. Not just a hand shake and a thank you. If that makes any sense. Many of us have stories and opinions that would blow peoples minds away. While everyone was going nuts with the surge in Iraq those of us there were thankful. We needed more people to be able to do counter-insurgency properly. We needed the extra people to be able to patrol and protect the people that were being bullied and harassed by the insurgents. In that type of operation you can't commute to work. You have to be out there with the people. Had more people out in the civilian world understood that by talking to Vets then maybe it wouldn't have received such a back lash here at home.
As for me and receiving thanks and praise, I never know how to handle that. It's extremely humbling. Especially when you receive it from vets of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. In my eyes they had it a lot worse than us but you can't tell them that, they'll tell you to go fuck yourself cause they didn't have to carry 100+ lbs worth of shit on their body. So I, personally, never know what to say when someone thanks me. Your welcome seems shallow to me for some reason. I volunteered to do what I did, and although the majority didn't stand up and swear that oath to support and defend it was still my choice. I wanted the opportunity to serve, I wanted the opportunity to lead, I wanted to know that when I let the last breath leave my body that I had done something that meant more and would leave a lasting impression. I've gotten that. Which is why saying your welcome just doesn't seem right. It's why when some refer to me as a Hero it doesn't seem fitting for me. I did what I did for my beliefs and I think people should be thankful that our country still instills those type of beliefs in people. That's why on Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, and any other day people need to respect that and find out what those who served did over there and why they did it. Without that, their legacy will be forgotten to history with few accounts of what actually went on. You hear the news, you read some stories, but it's the individual stories of what people did and why that solidify history and ensure that it won't be forgotten.
Think about it like this. Had we, as a people, paid more attention to the vets returning from Vietnam, do you think the government would have made the same choices. Their story was written in history but most of it was written from the stand point of people at home and not the standpoint of those who fought and died in those jungles. All because we waited to long to look upon their sacrifice and learn from them.
Just some thoughts. You can agree, you can disagree, you can argue. This is just my humble opinion.
Until my next rant...
The Senator
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