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by ah ha

Posted to Poetry and Politics on 2004-04-23 12:57:00

Parent message is 639451
I meant no offense Jimboloco. My views are based on two vets i know, my uncle was drafted into veitnam and admitedly did anything he could to get out of going. Once he was there he kept his head down, never went out of his way and took the first chance he got to go home. That may not sound honorable to some people, but he’s honest and was shot twice in the leg. I think his attitude probably represents a good number of the soldiers who fought that war, im not saying all of them, there were many, many, men who were excellent soldiers im sure, but the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

The other vet is my cousin Chris who voluntered for the marines and became a sniper in the first marine expeditionary force. His unit or squad{i don’t know what they call it} crossed into iraq before the war even started, and was in the thick of things all the way to the outskirts of baghdad, where he was hit in the neck almost killing or paralyzing him. Even after nearly dying and all the surgeries and nightmares{my aunt has to wake him up with broom standing far away, he nearly killed a nurse in the hospital in germany who startled him in his sleep} and the guilt of killing people he still wants to get back to his unit in iraq. Although it’s unlikely he’ll be able to pass the physicals to be combat ready, he still has more surgeries to go thru even a year later. He’s the perfect example of the kinda soidier the military WANTS, highly motivated, highly committed and extremly well trained.

Sticking someone like me in a fox hole with someone like him would just weaken the chain and ruin all the grand plans to americanize the world through fear and violence. Besides it’s an election year, bush knows he even mouths the word draft and it’s back to that ranch of his.