A Love Letter to those Who Kill (US Memorial Day)

[JenniferL]

When I first read this story sent to me by Baron Brian, my first confused reaction was: So why do they get all the credit?

 

For those of you who are too lazy to click the link, I'll sum up: Essentially, as Hurricane Isabel swept into Arlington, the two soldiers who guard The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier were offered something that had never been given before - permission to abandon their posts.

 

They refused. The Tomb had been guarded continually since 1930, and they weren't about to break that chain. They stayed on guard while the hurricane roared through, risking their own lives, and came out all right.

 

Many people pointed to this as the pinnacle of dedication... And it is. But the thing is, the guards at Arlington were in a perfect place to get the credit. It was a high-profile job, the offer to leave was official, and it was in the middle of a peaceful zone where reporters could go and interview them afterwards over coffee and donuts.

 

But in Iraq, right now, there are soldiers who know that there's a good chance that they'll get shot every time they go out on patrol. They go out anyway.

 

Ten years ago, they knew that there was a good chance that they could die retaking Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, who had a big military force back then. They went, and they fought.

 

Sixty years ago, men took their lives and said, "You know, this is worth it" and piled the beaches of Normandy with their valor... And their bodies.

 

Every day, in the military, there are guys who put their lives on the line for something they believe in. Sometimes it's America, sometimes it's their fellow man, sometimes it's because it's a war they think is worth fighting for... But that dedication spotlighted at Arlington shines in every aspect of the American military.* It just happens in dark and grimy corners where there's no Starbucks to interview people afterwards, no easy DSL connection to send the story over, no safe place where you can talk for an hour and not get shot at.

 

They go out, knowing that there's a good chance that they could die, and they get the job done anyway.

 

As someone who's never been given that kind of choice, I can do nothing but applaud. That's hardcore. That's all the way.

 

And it happens all the time.

 

There are those who think the military is an abomination, and to them I'll say that sometimes, force is necessary. There are people in this world who kill and torture innocent people, and they won't listen to reason. They are the bad guys. The only thing they will listen to is a kick in the fucking teeth.

 

(Pacifists love to use Gandhi as an example of how nonviolent protest works, but they forget that Gandhi was effective because Britain was a civlized democracy with a lot of press access. If Gandhi had tried his approach under Stalin, or Mao Tse Tung - or even, yes, Saddam Hussein - then we never would have heard of him. He'd be buried deep in a ditch with a bullethole through one lens of his glasses.)

 

These are often the same people who also say that all soldiers are equally bad. One person actually compared the LAPD to Saddam's fedayeen. Yes, the LAPD can trample constitutional rights occasionally, and what they do is an embarassment to the country... But I guarantee you we're never going to find an officially-sanctioned torture chamber in the LAPD's basement. We'll never find mass graves under a parking lot. Our soldiers sometimes fail at trying to be better than the enemy, and some of them get lost in bloodlust - but the vast majority of them try to carry out the American ideals, giving aid to the enemy when they can, being kind to children, trying to reconstruct other nations and helping out. And they do it at the cost of their lives.

 

I love our soldiers. I love what they do for us on a daily basis, trying to make the world a better place with a dedication that puts us to shame. I love them so much that I don't want to squander that dedication on anything less than the biggest problems, the worst difficulties. People say that good Americans should support their troops, and I do. I opposed the war in Iraq because I supported them - because I wanted them at home as much as possible. I want them out of danger.

 

I want these boys safe, except when we absolutely need them to die to make this world a better place.

 

And God bless them that they're willing to take a bullet to the face in order to do it.

 

Every day, somewhere in the world, that Arlington dedication is happening all over again. [info]rebelcoyote's in Iraq right now, sent there for a war that I disagreed with... But now that he's there, he's doing his damndest to make things right. Men are working behind the lines right now, setting up computers and supplies to make sure that these men are properly equipped to do what it takes.

 

Every day, in every country in the world, there's another Arlington. You just didn't know about it, and will never hear. But it happens.

 

So say a prayer for our boys, who believe in something with all of their hearts. And their blood.

 

* - And other militaries, too, probably. I don't know them. I know ours.

 

http://theferrett.livejournal.com/128608.html

[Red States Rule!]

Hear hear!

 

Here.. LOL in FL, I can only do a few things myself. I never served myself. I can only study battle from afar, like John Keegan.

 

In my short life I have been able to shelve the history section at Borders Books, and was proud to have been told by many veterans that I had the only decent book section in town for military history.

 

I take my five year old every Veterans Day or Memorial Day (opposite holidays, as the ex and I share) to the local Veteran's Museum. The curator of mine is a buddy of mine, and he has allowed me to help put up displays for different historical timeperiods.

 

I have done numerous living histories of the Seminole and Civil War for children's school events.

 

Every day I thank my grandfather for being in the Great World War Two and my great grandfather for being in the First World War.

 

I even force the wife to watch a war movie every now and then. I also thank every veteran I see.

 

These things are the least that a citizen could do for their country. In that I am proud.

 

I remember those that were lost.

 

American Revolution: Bunker Hill, Camden, Guilford Courthouse

 

War of 1812-14: Baltimore and the Star Spangled Banner, New Orleans and Jackson

 

To the shores of Tripoli.

 

Texan Independance: Alamo, San Jacinto

 

Mexican War: Buena Vista, Veracruz, Mexico City

 

"Civil War": Mannassas 1 and 2, Sharpsburg/Antietam, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, the March to the Sea, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Petersburg

 

"Indian Wars": those on both sides, Wounded Knee, Big Hole, capture of Geronimo, Little Big Horn

 

Spanish American War: Manila, San Juan Hill

 

Boxer Rebellion

 

the Great War: Belleau Wood, Montfaucon, Sedan 2

 

WW2: Pearl Harbor, North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Midway, Leyte Gulf, Luzon, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Bulge.

 

Korea: Inchon, Chosin Reservoir, Pork Chop Hill, MiG alley

 

Vietnam: Tet Offensive, b52 bombing runs, Cambodia

 

Panama

 

1st Gulf: Kuwait

 

2nd Gulf: Invasion of Iraq, Fallujah, Ramallah, Baghdad

 

 

And the list will go on into the future.