or
Join Now!
|
|
Home/Government/Politics
|
| Forum |
Ask A Question |
Question Board |
FAQs |
Search |
Return to Question Board
| Question Details |
Asked By |
Asked On |
| Our Hero |
excon |
09/14/04 |
The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired,
tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by
society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old
enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never
really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash
his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.
He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student,
pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and
has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or
swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to
rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm howitzer. He
is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working
or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.
He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can
field-strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.
He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and
use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can
apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to
stop or stop until he is told to march.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit
or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he
washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.
He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never forgets to clean his rifle.
He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If
you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.
He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands.
He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice
the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all.
He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime.
He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them. He has wept
in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.
He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid
attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who
haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist,
day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.
Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price
for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting
Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. And, he has asked nothing
in return, except our friendship and understanding. |
Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 09/14/04 1:49 pm:
Kindj,
>>>As a vet myself, I can no more wear the "hero" label than anyone else. <<<
Bullsh*t.
You volunteered.
You wore the uniform.
You stood on that wall.
You protected your country and its citizens... my family included.
You risked your life by wearing a uniform that across most of this world is essentially a target.
You may or may not have seen action. You may or may not have won some medals (though I seem to remember a list of awards that you read of to Chou, and it would seem that you did see some heat and chew some dirt).
You did a job that only a few hundred thousand people volunteer to do... out of 295 million of us.
You ARE a hero. You deserve that label. And if all of the other men and women in uniform deserve the label too, that in no way diminishes the label.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for protecting us.
With deepest respect and honor,
Elliot
Clarification/Follow-up by kindj on 09/14/04 2:01 pm:
Ask SanchoPanza. I don't think he thinks much of me right now.
Gosh, wonder how I'll sleep tonight...
DK
Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 09/14/04 3:30 pm:
Screw him... he hasn't got a clue.
Elliot
Clarification/Follow-up by Chouxxx on 09/14/04 3:37 pm:
Elliot:: It was an *author* talking about his new book on public television, the only place where a person can see book reviews!!! He is a famous war historian.
Clarification/Follow-up by SanchoPanza on 09/15/04 1:35 am:
Rhetoric cheapens so much. Kids who join the army because their family is dysfuncional don't do it for heroic reasons, nor do thise who are looking for further education. The part about them not being able to read or write well is revealing, those guys would be lucky to make it into the Pioneer Corps in Britian. Certainly guys with educational difficulties would be consided to be unfit to serve in combat units.
One line jumped out at me though and that was "If you are thirsty he will share his water with you." It was always SOP to NEVER share your water. Everyone had the same ration and to give it to someone else was considered to be negligence of yourself.
Mind you US forces were known to ENDEX when the water bowsers couldn't get to them while British Paratroopers were drinking saline drips so that they could get the job finished.
|
| |
|
Your Options |
Additional Options are only visible when you login! !
|
|
|
|
